Detector and inspecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

An inspecting apparatus for reducing a time loss associated with a work for changing a detector is characterized by comprising a plurality of detectors  11, 12  for receiving an electron beam emitted from a sample W to capture image data representative of the sample W, and a switching mechanism M for causing the electron beam to be incident on one of the plurality of detectors  11, 12 , where the plurality of detectors  11, 12  are disposed in the same chamber MC. The plurality of detectors  11, 12  can be an arbitrary combination of a detector comprising an electron sensor for converting an electron beam into an electric signal with a detector comprising an optical sensor for converting an electron beam into light and converting the light into an electric signal. The switching mechanism M may be a mechanical moving mechanism or an electron beam deflector.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates a detector for capturing electron beams oroptical signals. More particularly, the present invention relates to aninspecting apparatus which has two or more detectors disposed within asingle barrel, one of which is selected in accordance with the amount ofelectronic or optical signals or an S/N ratio, thereby allowing fordetection and measurement of images on the surface of a sample.

With the use of this inspecting apparatus, a sample can be efficientlyinspected for evaluating the structure on the surface thereof, observingthe surface in enlarged view, evaluating the material thereof,inspecting an electrically conductive state thereof, and the like.Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method of accurately andreliably inspecting highly dense patterns having a minimum line width of0.15 μm or less for defects at a high throughput, and a devicemanufacturing method which involves inspecting patterns halfway in adevice manufacturing process.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventional inspecting apparatus switches a detector comprising anelectron sensor for detecting electrons and a detector comprising anoptical sensor for detecting light for use in detecting electrons orlight. Particularly, one detector is switched to the other as mentionedabove for capturing electrons or light emitted from the same object todetect the amount of electrons or light and a changing amount thereof,or capturing an image. For example, electron or light incidentconditions are adjusted on the basis of conditions detected by a CCD(charge coupled device) based detector, followed by replacing the CCDdetector with a TDI (time delay integration) detector to make ahigh-speed inspection, measurement, and the like of the object.Specifically, when the incident conditions are adjusted using the TDIsensor, a low scaling factor of image in the adjustments of the incidentcondition causes secondary electrons from a sample to impinge and notimpinge on some regions of a MCP (micro-channel plate), which receivessecondary electrons from a sample, resulting in local damages to theMCP. For this reason, the incident conditions are mainly adjusted usinga CCD sensor.

An example of a conventional inspecting apparatus is shown in FIGS. 28and 29. FIG. 28(A) shows a CCD inspecting apparatus 300. The CCDinspecting apparatus 300 comprises a CCD sensor 301 and a camera 302which are placed in the atmosphere. Secondary electrons emitted from asample (not shown) are amplified by an MCP 303 and then impinge on afluorescent plate 304 which converts the secondary electrons into anoptical signal representative of the image of the sample. The opticalsignal output from the fluorescent plate 304 is converted by the opticallens 306 placed in the atmosphere through a feed through 305 formed in avacuum chamber MC, and focused on the CCD sensor 301 to form the imageof the sample in the camera 302.

FIG. 28(B) in turn shows a TDI detector 310, where a TDI sensor 311 isplaced within a vacuum chamber MC. A fluorescent plate 313 is disposedin front thereof through light transmission means such as an FOP (fiberoptic plate) 3444 or the like, so that secondary electrons from a sampleenter the fluorescent plate 313 through the MCP 314, where the secondaryelectrons are converted into an optical signal which is then transmittedto the TDI sensor 311. An electric signal output from the TDI sensor 311is transmitted to a camera 317 through a pin 316 provided in a feedthrough unit 315.

Accordingly, in the case of FIG. 28, a change of the CCD detector 300 tothe TDI detector 310 involves changing a unit of a flange and a set ofessential parts mounted thereon. Specifically, the inspecting apparatus300 is opened to the atmosphere, the flange, fluorescent plate 304,optical lens 306, and CCD sensor 301 are removed from the CCD detector300, and then the feed through flange 315, fluorescent late 313, FOP3444, TDI sensor 311, and camera 317 of the TDI detector 301 are mountedin unit. For changing the TDI detector 310 with the CCD detector 300,the foregoing works are performed in the reverse procedure to the above.In this regard, light or electrons emitted from a sample underobservation may be enlarged by an optical system, and the enlargedelectrons or light is amplified, followed by observation of theamplified signal by a detector.

In FIGS. 29(A) and (B), in turn, MCPs 303, 314 and fluorescent plates304, 313 are disposed within a vacuum chamber MC. Therefore, in theconfiguration shown in FIG. 29, when a change is made between a CCDdetector 300 and a TDI detector 310, elements placed in the atmosphere,i.e., a set including an optical lens 306, a CCD sensor 301, and acamera 302 is changed with a set including a TDI sensor 311, a camera317, and an optical lens 318, or vice versa.

An apparatus for creating image data of a sample using a detectionresult thus provided by a detector, and comparing the image data withdata on a die-by-die basis to inspect the sample for defects is known(see JP-5-254140423 and JP-6-141416424 for the apparatus).

The conventional scheme as described above, when used, will require notonly an immense time for assembly, vacuum abandonment, adjustments andthe like involved in the change of the detector, but also works foradjusting the alignment of the electron or optical axis, associated withthe change of the detector. For example, assuming that the TDI detector310 is substituted for the CCD detector 300 for converting a secondaryelectron beam into an optical signal within the vacuum chamber MC asshown in FIG. 28, works such as stop of the apparatus, purging, openingto the atmosphere, change of the detector, evacuation, breakdownadjustment such as conditioning, adjustment of a beam axis, and the likeare performed in order, and a time required therefor amounts to 50 to429 hours each time. Therefore, assuming that an electro-optical systemis adjusted and conditioned, for example, ten times a year, theforegoing works are involved each time, thus resulting in 500 to 4290hours required therefor.

The configuration shown in FIG. 29 has been conventionally employed forsolving the problem inherent in FIG. 28. This configuration is employedbecause the MCP 303, 314 and fluorescent plates 304, 313 are disposedwithin the vacuum chamber MC as shown in FIG. 29, so that the unit ofthe CCD sensor 301 and camera 302 can be readily changed to the unit ofthe TDI sensor 311 and camera 317 in the atmosphere. However, a problemarises in deterioration of MTF due to the feed through 305 which is madeof hermetic optical glass which cannot provide a wide viewing field. Asa result, the viewing field generally extends on the order of 1×1 to10×10 mm at the position of the fluorescent plate, and for providing awider viewing field, it is necessary to prevent the deterioration of theMFT due to a defective flatness and non-uniformity of the optical glassand fluctuations in focus, and it is also necessary to preventdeteriorations in MTF and luminance by providing an optical lens whichhas a viewing field approximately five to six times wider. An opticallens system which achieves this requires a highly accurate and expensivelens, resulting in a cost 10 to 15 times higher, by way of example.Further, since the optical system is increased in size by a factor of 5to 15, the resulting inspecting apparatus may be unavailable if thereare limitations to the height of the apparatus.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

To solve the problems mentioned above, the present invention provides aninspecting apparatus characterized by comprising:

a plurality of detectors each for receiving an electron beam emittedfrom a sample to acquire image data representative of the sample; and

a switching mechanism for causing the electron beam to be incident onone of the plurality of detectors,

wherein the plurality of detectors are disposed within the same vacuumchamber.

Also, the present invention provides a defect inspecting apparatuscomprising:

a primary optical system having an electron gun for emitting a primaryelectron beam for guiding the primary electron beam to a sample; and

a secondary optical system for guiding a secondary electron beam emittedfrom the sample to a detection system, characterized in that thedetection system comprises:

a first EB-CCD sensor for adjusting the optical axis of an electronbeam;

an EB-TDI sensor for capturing an image of the sample; and

a second EB-CCD sensor for evaluating a defective site based on theimage captured by the EB-TDI sensor.

Further, the present invention provides a defect inspecting method forinspecting a sample for defects in a defect inspecting apparatus havinga primary optical system for guiding the primary electron beam to asample, and a secondary optical system for guiding a secondary electronbeam emitted from the sample to a detection system. The defectinspecting method is characterized by:

adjusting an optical axis using the EB-CCD sensor;

capturing an image of a sample using the EB-TDI sensor;

specifying a defective site on the sample from the image captured by theEB-TDI sensor;

capturing an image of the defective site on the sample using the EB-CCDsensor; and

comparing the image of the defective site captured by the EB-TDI sensorwith the image of the defective site captured by the EB-CCD sensor todetermine a false defect or a true defect.

As described above, the present invention disposes a plurality ofdetectors within a vacuum chamber and can detect an electronic or anoptical signal using one of the detectors. A detector suitable forelectrons or light to be captured is selected in accordance with theamount of signal, the S/N ratio and the like, and a signal is applied tothe selected detector to perform required detecting operations.

Advantageously, in this way, it is possible to not only save a timetaken to change one detector to another but also perform works such asbeam condition adjustments, inspection, measurement and the like byimmediately using an optimal detector when it is needed. Further, asignal can be applied to the detector while minimizing degradations inimage quality without lower MTF or image distortions due to opticallenses and lens systems. In this regard, the MTF and contrast are usedas indexes for the resolution.

For example, the surface of a sample can be inspected, measured, andobserved at high speeds by capturing a still image and adjusting theoptical axis using a CCD detector, and subsequently directing a beaminto a TDI detector to capture image without changing the detector, ashas been previously required.

In the past, detectors are change from one to another upon adjustmentsto a variety of use conditions, so that the changing works are generallyperformed approximately ten times a year on average. Specifically, 1000hours (10×100) have been spent for the changing works every year, butaccording to the present invention, such a loss of time can be reduced.Also, when a vacuum chamber is opened to the atmosphere, particles anddust are likely to stick to the inner wall of the vacuum chamber andparts within the vacuum chamber, but the present invention can eliminatesuch a risk. Also, since parts in the vacuum environment can beprevented from surface oxidization due to the exposure to theatmosphere, voltages and magnetic flux generated from electrodes,magnetic poles and the like can be used with stability withoutinfluences of unstable operations possibly resulting from oxidizedparts. Particularly, in an aperture having a small diameter such as anNA opening on which an electron beam impinges, it is thought that duringthe exposure to the atmosphere, moisture and oxygen in the air stick tothe aperture to promote the sticking and production of contamination,but the present invention solves such a problem.

For adjusting an electro-optical system for guiding an electron beamgenerated from the surface of a sample such as a wafer to a detector,signals often concentrate on a sensor. In other words, the sensorsimultaneously includes an area which exhibits a higher signal strengthand an area which exhibits a lower signal strength. As a result, if thearea of higher signal strength is damaged, the sensor is renderednon-uniform in sensitivity. If an inspection or a measurement is madeusing such a sensor which is non-uniform in sensitivity, the result ofthe measurement involves large variations because a smaller signalrepresentative of an image is captured in the non-uniform area, leadingto a false defect. Even if the intensity of incident electrons or thelike is uniform, an output signal from a damaged area varies instrength, resulting in a non-uniform sensor output. It is thought thaterroneous measurements can be made due to such non-uniform output of thesensor. Such a problem can be solved by the present invention.

In the inspecting apparatus according to the present invention, a beamirradiated to a sample may be an electron beam or light such as UVlight, DUV light, laser light or the like, or a combination of anelectron beam and light. Any of reflected electrons, secondaryelectrons, back scattered electrons, and Auger electrons may be used forthe electron beams to capture a required image. When using light such asUV light, DUV light, laser light or the like, an image is detected byoptical electrons. It is also possible to detect defects on the surfaceof a sample using scattered light which occurs when such light isirradiated to the surface of the sample. A quartz fiver or a hollowfiber can be used to efficiently introduce light such as UV light, DUVlight, laser light or the like onto the surface of the sample.

When a combination of an electron beam and light is used for irradiatingthe surface of a sample therewith, it is possible to solve a problem ofthe inability to uniformly irradiate the sample with electrons due tocharge-up which causes a change in the potential on the surface when anelectron beam alone is used. Accordingly, by using light which can beirradiated irrespective of the potential on the surface, electrons canbe stably and efficiently captured from the surface of the sample foruse in image capturing. For example, when the sample is irradiated withUV light, not only optical electrons are generated, but also a number ofelectrons are excited to a metastable state, so that free electrons areincreased when an electron beam is irradiated thereto, resulting in anefficient emission of secondary electrons.

Semiconductor devices can be manufactured at a high throughput and witha high yield rate by applying the inspecting apparatus according to thepresent invention to an inspection of wafers for defects halfway in amanufacturing process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1-1

A diagram generally showing the configuration of a semiconductorinspection system.

FIG. 1-2

A front elevation showing main components of an inspecting apparatuswhich is one embodiment of a charged particle beam apparatus accordingto the present invention, viewed along a line A-A in FIG. 1-3.

FIG. 1-3

A plan view of main components of the inspecting apparatus shown in FIG.1-2, viewed along a line B-B in FIG. 1-2.

FIG. 1-4

A diagram showing an exemplary modification to the configuration shownin FIG. 1-3.

FIG. 1-5

A cross-sectional view showing a mini-environment apparatus in FIG. 1-2,taken along a line C-C

FIG. 1-6

A diagram showing a loader housing in FIG. 1-2, viewed along a line D-Din FIG. 1-3.

FIG. 1-7

Diagrams showing the configuration of an electron beam calibrationmechanism, where (A) is a side view, and (B) is a plan view.

FIG. 2

A diagram showing the general configuration of an inspecting apparatus.

FIG. 3

A diagram schematically showing a first embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4

A diagram schematically showing a second embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5

A diagram schematically showing a third embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6

A diagram schematically showing a fourth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7

A diagram schematically showing a fifth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8

A diagram schematically showing a sixth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9

A diagram schematically showing the configuration of an EB-TDI sensorshown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10

A diagram for describing the operation of the EB-TDI sensor shown inFIG. 8.

FIG. 11

A diagram schematically showing a seventh embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12

A diagram schematically showing an eighth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13

A diagram schematically showing a ninth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 14

A diagram schematically showing a tenth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 15

A diagram schematically showing an eleventh embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 16

A diagram schematically showing a twelfth embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 17

A diagram showing an example of a moving mechanism for use in theinspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 18

A diagram showing another example of a moving mechanism for use in theinspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 19

A diagram showing a further example of a moving mechanism for use in theinspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 20

A diagram showing a first example of the general configuration of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 21

A diagram showing a second example of the general configuration of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 22

A diagram showing a third example of the general configuration of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 23

A diagram showing a fourth example of the general configuration of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 24

FIGS. 24(A), 24(B), and 24(C) are diagrams for describingstep-and-repeat performed in the inspecting apparatus according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 25

FIGS. 25(A) and 25(B) are diagrams showing alignment marks in thestep-and-repeat performed in the inspecting apparatus according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 26

A flow diagram showing a process which constitutes a semiconductordevice manufacturing method.

FIG. 27

A flow diagram showing processes which make up a wafer processingprocess in FIG. 26.

FIG. 28

FIGS. 28(A) and 28(B) are diagrams for describing a conventionalinspecting apparatus.

FIG. 29

FIGS. 29(A) and 29(B) are diagrams for describing a conventionalinspecting apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

First, the general configuration of a semiconductor inspection systemwill be described with reference to FIG. 1-1. The semiconductorinspection system comprises an inspecting apparatus, a power supplyrack, a control rack, an image processing rack, a deposition apparatus,an etching apparatus, and the like. Roughing vacuum pumps such as a drypump are installed outside of a clean room. Main components within theinspecting apparatus comprises an electron beam vacuum chamber, a vacuumtransfer system, a main housing which contains a stage, a vibrationisolator, turbo molecular pump, and the like.

When viewing the inspection system from a functional standpoint, theelectron beam vacuum chamber is mainly composed of an electro-opticalsystem, a detection system, an optical microscope, and the like. Theelectro-optical system is composed of an electron gun, lenses and thelike, while the transfer system is composed of a vacuum transfer robot,an atmosphere transfer robot, a cassette loader, a variety of positionsensors, and the like.

The deposition apparatus, etching apparatus, and washing apparatus (notshown) may be installed side by side near the inspecting apparatus orincorporated in the inspecting apparatus. They are used, for example, toprevent a sample from being charged, or to clean the surface of thesample. A sputter scheme, when used, can provide both functions ofdeposition and etching.

Thought not shown, in some applications, associated apparatuses may beinstalled side by side near the inspecting apparatus, or theseassociated apparatuses may be incorporated in the inspecting apparatusfor use therewith. Alternatively, these associated apparatuses may beincorporated in the inspecting apparatus. For example, a chemicalmechanical polishing apparatus (CMP) and a washing apparatus may beincorporated in the inspecting apparatus, or alternatively, a CVD(chemical vacuum deposition) apparatus may be incorporated in theinspecting apparatus, in which case the area required for installation,and the number of units for transferring samples can be saved, atransfer time can be reduced, and other advantages can be provided.Likewise, a deposition apparatus such as a plating apparatus may beincorporated in the inspecting apparatus. Also, the inspecting apparatuscan be used in combination with a lithography apparatus in a similarmanner.

In the following, one embodiment of an inspecting apparatus according tothe present invention will be described with reference to the drawings,as a semiconductor inspecting apparatus for inspecting a substrate or awafer formed with patterns on the surface thereof as an object underinspection.

Main components of the semiconductor inspecting apparatus of thisembodiment are shown in front elevation and plan view in FIGS. 1-2 and1-3. The semiconductor inspecting apparatus 400 of this embodimentcomprises a cassette holder 401 for holding a cassette which stores aplurality of wafers W; a mini-environment device 402; a main housing 403which defines a working chamber; a loader housing 404 disposed betweenthe mini-environment device 402 and main housing 403 for defining twoloading chambers; a loader 406 for loading a wafer from the cassetteholder 401 onto the stage device 405 disposed within the main housing403; and an electro-optical system 407 attached to the vacuum housing.These components are laid out in a positional relationship asillustrated in FIGS. 1-2 and 1-3.

The semiconductor inspecting apparatus 400 also comprises a pre-chargeunit 408 disposed in the main housing 403 in vacuum; a potentialapplication mechanism (not shown) for applying a potential to a wafer W;an electron beam calibration mechanism (described later with referenceto FIG. 1-7), and an optical microscope 410 which forms part of analignment controller 409 for positioning a wafer W on the stage device.

The cassette holder 401 is configured to hold a plurality (two in thisembodiment) of cassettes c (for example, closed cassettes such as SMIF,FOUP manufactured by Assist Co.) in which a plurality (for example,twenty-five) wafers W are placed side by side in parallel, oriented inthe vertical direction. In this embodiment, the cassette holder 401 is atype adapted to automatically load the cassette c, and comprises, forexample, an up/down table 411, and an elevating mechanism 444 for movingthe up/down table 411 up and down. The cassette c can be automaticallyset on the up/down table 411 in a state indicated by chain lines in FIG.1-3. After the setting, the cassette c is automatically rotated to astate indicated by solid lines in FIG. 1-3 so that it is directed to theaxis of pivotal movement of a first carrier unit within themini-environment chamber.

It should be noted that substrate or wafers accommodated in the cassettec are subjected to an inspection which is generally performed after aprocess for processing the wafers or in the middle of the process withinsemiconductor manufacturing processes. Specifically, accommodated in thecassette are wafers which have undergone a deposition process, CMP, ionimplantation and so on; wafers formed with wiring patterns on thesurface thereof; or wafers which have not been formed with wiringpatterns. Since a large number of wafers accommodated in the cassette care spaced from each other in the vertical direction and arranged sideby side in parallel, and the first carrier unit has an arm which isvertically movable, a wafer at an arbitrary position can be held by thefirst carrier unit which will be described later in detail.

In FIGS. 1-2 and 1-5, the mini-environment device 402 comprises ahousing 414 defining a mini-environment space 413 that is controlled forthe atmosphere; a gas circulator 415 for circulating a gas such as cleanair within the mini-environment space 413 to execute the atmospherecontrol; a discharger 416 for recovering a portion of air supplied intothe mini-environment space 413 to discharge the same; and a prealigner417 for roughly aligning a sample, i.e., a wafer placed in themini-environment space 413. The housing 414 has a top wall 418, bottomwall 419, and peripheral wall 420 which surrounds four sides of thehousing 414, to provide a structure for isolating the mini-environmentspace 413 from the outside. Also, a sensor may be provided within theenvironment space for observing the cleanness such that the apparatuscan be shut down when the cleanness exacerbates.

An access port 421 is formed in a portion of the peripheral wall 87 ofthe housing 414 that is adjacent to the cassette holder 401. A shutterdevice of a known structure may be provided near the access port 421 forclosing the access port 421 from the mini-environment device side. Anair supply unit may not be provided within the mini-environment spacebut outside thereof.

The discharger 416 comprises a suction duct 422 disposed at a positionbelow the wafer carrying surface of the carrier unit and below thecarrier unit; a blower 423 disposed outside the housing 414; and aconduit 424 for connecting the suction duct 422 to the blower 423. Thedischarger 416 aspires a gas flowing down around the carrier unit andincluding particle, which could be produced by the carrier unit, throughthe suction duct 422, and discharges the gas outside the housing 414through the conduit 424 and the blower 423.

The prealigner 417 disposed within the mini-environment space 413optically or mechanically detects an orientation flat (which refers to aflat portion formed along the outer periphery of a circular wafer andhereinafter called as orientation flat) formed on the wafer, or one ormore V-shaped notches formed on the outer peripheral edge of the wafer,and previously aligns the position of the wafer in a rotating directionabout the axis O-O at an accuracy of approximately tone degree. Theprealigner is responsible for a rough alignment of the wafer.

In FIGS. 1-2 and 1-3, the main housing 403, which defines a workingchamber 426, comprises a housing body 427 that is supported by a housingsupporting device 430 carried on a vibration blocking device, i.e.,vibration isolator 429 disposed on a base frame 428. The housingsupporting device 430 comprises a frame structure 431 assembled into arectangular form. The housing body 427 comprises a bottom wall 432mounted on and securely carried on the frame structure 431; a top wall433; and a peripheral wall 434 which is connected to the bottom wall 432and the top wall 433 and surrounds four sides of the housing body 427,and isolates the working chamber 426 from the outside.

In this embodiment, the housing body and the housing supporting device430 are assembled into a rigid construction, and the vibration isolator429 blocks vibrations from the floor, on which the base frame 428 isinstalled, from being transmitted to the rigid structure. A portion ofthe peripheral wall 434 of the housing 427 that adjoins the loaderhousing 404 is formed with an access port 435 for introducing andremoving a wafer therethrough. The working chamber 426 is kept in avacuum atmosphere by a vacuum device (not shown) of a known structure. Acontroller 2 is disposed below the base frame 428 for controlling theoperation of the overall apparatus.

In FIGS. 1-2, 1-3, and 1-6, the loader housing 404 comprises a housingbody 438 which defines a first loading chamber 436 and a second loadingchamber 438. The housing body 438 comprises a bottom wall 439; a topwall 440; a peripheral wall 441 which surrounds four sides of thehousing body 438; and a partition wall 442 for partitioning the firstloading chamber 436 and the second loading chamber 438 to isolate thetwo loading chambers from the outside. The partition wall 442 is formedwith an aperture, i.e., an access port 443 for passing a wafer W betweenthe two loading chambers. Also, a portion of the peripheral wall 441that adjoins the mini-environment device 402 and the main housing 403,is formed with access ports 444 and 445. The housing body 438 of theloader housing 404 is carried on and supported by the frame structure431 of the housing supporting device 430. This prevents the vibrationsof the floor from being transmitted to the loader housing 404 as well.

The access port 444 of the loader housing 404 is in alignment with theaccess port 446 of the housing 414 of the mini-environment device 402,and a shutter device 447 is provided for selectively blocking acommunication between the mini-environment space 413 and the loadingchamber 436. Likewise, the access port 445 of the loader housing 404 isin alignment with the access port 435 of the housing body 427, and ashutter device 448 is provided for selectively blocking a communicationbetween the loading chamber 438 and the working chamber 426 in ahermetic manner.

Further, the opening formed through the partition wall 442 is providedwith a shutter device 450 for closing the opening with a door 449 toselectively block a communication between the first and second loadingchambers in a hermetic manner.

Within the first loading chamber 436, a wafer rack 451 is disposed forsupporting a plurality (two in this embodiment) of wafers spaced in thevertical direction and maintained in a horizontal state. The loadingchambers 436, 438 are controlled for the atmosphere to be maintained ina high vacuum state (at a vacuum degree of 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻⁶ Pa) by a vacuumevacuator (not shown) in a conventional structure including a vacuumpump, not shown. In this event, the first loading chamber 436 may beheld in a low vacuum atmosphere as a low vacuum chamber, while thesecond loading chamber 438 may be held in a high vacuum atmosphere as ahigh vacuum chamber, to effectively prevent contamination of wafers. Theemployment of such a loading housing structure including two loadingchambers allows a wafer W to be carried, without significant delay fromthe loading chamber the working chamber. The employment of such aloading chamber structure provides for an improved throughput for thedefect inspection, and the highest possible vacuum state around theelectron source which is required to be kept in a high vacuum state.

The first and second loading chambers 436, 438 are connected to vacuumpumping pipes and vent pipes for an inert gas (for example, dried purenitrogen) (neither of which are shown), respectively. In this way, theatmospheric state within each loading chamber is attained by an inertgas vent (which injects an inert gas to prevent an oxygen gas and so onother than the inert gas from attaching on the surface).

In the inspecting apparatus of the present invention which uses electronbeams, when representative lanthanum hexaboride (LaB₆) used as anelectron source for an electro-optical system is once heated to such ahigh temperature that causes emission of thermal electrons, it iscritical that it is not exposed to oxygen within the limits ofpossibility so as not to shorten the lifetime. However, by carrying outthe atmosphere control as mentioned above at a stage before introducingthe wafer into the working chamber in which the electro-optical systemis disposed, the foregoing can be more certainly carried out.

The stage device 405 comprises a fixed table 452 disposed on the bottomwall 432 of the main housing 403; a Y-table 453 movable in a Y directionon the fixed table (the direction vertical to the drawing sheet in FIG.1-2); an X-table 454 movable in an X direction on the Y-table 453 (inthe left-to-right direction in FIG. 1-2); a turntable 455 rotatable onthe X-table; and a holder 456 disposed on the turntable 455. A wafer Wis releasably held on a wafer carrying surface 551 of the holder 456.The holder may be of a known structure which is capable of releasablychucking a wafer by means of a mechanical or electrostatic chuckfeature.

The stage device 405 uses servo motors, encoders and a variety ofsensors (not shown) to operate the plurality of tables 453-455 mentionedabove to permit highly accurate alignment of a wafer W held on thecarrying surface 130 by the holder 456 in the X direction, Y directionand Z-direction (the Z-direction is the up-down direction in FIG. 1-2)with respect to electron beams irradiated from the electro-opticalsystem, and in a direction (θ direction) about the axis normal to thewafer supporting surface. In this regard, the alignment in theZ-direction may be made such that the position on the carrying surfaceof the holder, for example, can be finely adjusted in the Z-direction.In this event, a reference position on the carrying surface is sensed bya position measuring device using a laser of an extremely small diameter(a laser interference range finder using the principles ofinterferometer) to control the position by a feedback circuit, notshown. Additionally or alternatively, the position of a notch or anorientation flat of a wafer is measured to sense a plane position or arotational position of the wafer relative to the electron beam tocontrol the position of the wafer by rotating the turntable by astepping motor which can be controlled in extremely small angularincrements.

In order to maximally prevent particle produced within the workingchamber 426, servo motors 131, 132 and encoders 133, 134 for the stagedevice 405 are disposed outside the main housing 403.

It is also possible to establish a basis for signals which are generatedby previously inputting a rotational position, and X-Y-positions of awafer relative to the electron beams in a signal detecting system or animage processing system, later described.

The loader 406 comprises a robot-based first carrier unit 462 disposedin the housing 414 of the mini-environment device 402, and a robot-basedsecond carrier unit 463 disposed in the second loading chamber 438.

The first carrier unit 462 has a multi-node arm 465 for rotation aboutan axis O₁-O₁ relative to a driver 464. While an arbitrary structure maybe applied to the multi-node arm, this embodiment employs the multi-nodearm 465 which has three parts attached for rotation relative to eachother. A part of the arm 465 of the first carrier unit 462, i.e., afirst part closest to the driver 464 is attached to a shaft 466 whichcan be rotated by a driving mechanism (not shown) in a general-purposestructure arranged in the driver 464. The arm 465 is rotatable about theaxis O₁-O₁ by the shaft 466, and is telescopical in a radial directionrelative to the axis O₁-O₁ as a whole through relative rotations amongthe parts. At the leading end of the third part furthest away from theshaft 466 of the arm 465, a chuck 467 is attached for chucking a wafer,such as a mechanical chuck in a general-purpose structure, anelectrostatic chuck or the like. The driver 464 is vertically movable byan elevating mechanism 468 in a general-purpose structure.

In this first carrier unit 462, the arm 465 extends toward one of twocassettes c held in the cassette holder 10 in a direction M1 or M2, anda wafer W stored in the cassette c is carried on the arm, or is chuckedby the chuck (not shown) attached at the leading end of the arm forremoval. Subsequently, the arm is retracted (to the state illustrated inFIG. 1-3), and the arm is rotated to a position at which the arm canextend toward the pre-aligner 417 in a direction M3, and is stopped atthis position. Then, the arm again extends to the pre-aligner 417 totransfer the wafer held by the arm thereto. After receiving the waferfrom the pre-aligner 417 in a manner reverse to the foregoing, the armis further rotated and stopped at a position at which the arm can extendtoward the first loading chamber 436 (in a direction M4), where thewafer is passed to a wafer receiver 451 within the first loading chamber436.

It should be noted that when a wafer is mechanically chucked, the wafershould be chucked in a peripheral zone (in a range approximately 5 mmfrom the periphery). This is because the wafer is formed with devices(circuit wires) over the entire surface except for the peripheral zone,so that if the wafer were chucked at a portion inside the peripheralzone, some devices would be broken or defects would be produced.

The second carrier unit 463 is basically the same as the first carrierunit 462 in structure, and differs only in that the second carrier unit463 carries a wafer W between the wafer rack 451 and the carryingsurface of the stage device 405.

In the loader 406 described above, the first and second carrier units462, 463 carry wafers from the cassette c held in the cassette holderonto the stage device 405 disposed in the working chamber 426 and viceversa while holding the wafer substantially in a horizontal posture.Then, the arms of the carrier units 462, 463 are moved up and down onlywhen a cassette is extracted from the cassette c and loaded into thesame, when a wafer is placed on the wafer lack and is extracted from thesame, and when a wafer is placed on the stage device 405 and removedfrom the same. Therefore, the carrier units 462, 463 can smoothly moveeven a large wafer which may have a diameter of, for example, 30 cm.

Next, a description will be made in order of the transfer of a waferfrom the cassette c supported by the cassette holder 401 to the stagedevice 405 disposed in the working chamber 426. In this embodiment, asthe cassette c is set on the up/down table 411, the up/down table 411 ismoved down by the elevating mechanism 412 to bring the cassette c intoalignment to the access port 421. As the cassette c is in alignment tothe access port 421, a cover (not shown) disposed on the cassette c isopened, whereas a cylindrical cover is arranged between the cassette cand the access port 421 of the mini-environment device 402 to block thecassette c and mini-environment space 402 from the outside. When themini-environment device 402 is equipped with a shutter device foropening/closing the access port 421, the shutter device is operated toopen the access port 421.

On the other hand, the arm 465 of the first carrier unit 462 remainsoriented in either the direction M1 or M2 (in the direction M1 in thisdescription), and extends to receive one of wafers stored in thecassette c with its leading end as the access port 421 is opened.

Once the arm 465 has received a wafer, the arm 465 is retracted, and theshutter device (if any) is operated to close the access port 421. Then,the arm 465 is rotated about the axial line O₁-O₁ so that it can extendin the direction M3. Next, the arm 465 extends to transfer the wafercarried on the leading end thereof or chucked by a chuck onto thepre-aligner 417 which determines a direction in which the wafer isrotated (direction about the center axis perpendicular to the surface ofthe wafer) within a predetermined range. Upon completion of thepositioning, the first carrier unit 462 retracts the arm 465 after thewafer is received from the pre-aligner 417 to the leading end of the arm465, and takes a posture in which the arm 465 can be extended in thedirection M4. Then, the door 469 of the shutter device 447 is moved toopen the access ports 226, 436, permitting the arm 465 to place thewafer on the upper shelf or lower shelf of the wafer rack 451 within thefirst loading chamber 436. It should be noted that before the shutterdevice 447 opens the access ports to pass the wafer to the wafer rack451, the opening 443 formed through the partition 442 is hermeticallyclosed by the door 449 of the shutter device 450.

In the wafer transfer process by the first carrier unit 462, clean airflows in a laminar state (as a down flow) from the gas supply unit 231disposed in the housing body 414 of the mini-environment device 402, forpreventing dust from sticking to the upper surface of the wafer duringthe transfer. Part of air around the carrier unit is aspired from thesuction duct 422 of the discharger 416 for emission out of the housingbody 414. The remaining air is recovered through the recovery duct 89arranged on the bottom of the housing body 414, and again returned tothe gas supply unit 470.

As a wafer is placed on the wafer rack 451 within the first loadingchamber 436 of the loader housing 404 by the first carrier unit 462, theshutter device 447 is closed to hermetically close the loading chamber436. Then, the loading chamber 436 is brought into a vacuum atmosphereby expelling the air within the loading chamber 436, filling an inertgas in the loading chamber 436, and then discharging the inert gas. Thevacuum atmosphere in the loading chamber 436 may have a low degree ofvacuum. As the degree of vacuum has reached a certain level in theloading chamber 436, the shutter device 450 is operated to open theaccess port 442, which has been hermetically closed by the door 449, andthe arm 472 of the second carrier unit 463 extends to receive one waferfrom the wafer receiver 451 with the chuck at the leading end thereof(placed on the leading end or chucked by a chuck attached to the leadingend). As the wafer has been received, the arm 472 is retracted, and theshutter device 450 is again operated to close the access port 443 withthe door 449.

It should be noted that before the shutter device 450 opens the accessport 443, the arm 472 has previously taken a posture in which it canextend toward the wafer rack 451 in a direction N1. Also, as describedabove, before the shutter device 450 opens the access port 443, theshutter device 448 closes the access ports 445, 435 with the door 473 toblock communications between the second loading chamber 438 and theworking chamber 426, and the second loading chamber 438 is evacuated.

As the shutter device 450 closes the access port 443, the second loadingchamber 438 is again evacuated to a degree of vacuum higher than that ofthe first loading chamber 436. In the meantime, the arm 465 of thesecond carrier unit 462 is rotated to a position from which the arm 465can extend toward the stage device 405 within the working chamber 426.On the other hand, in the stage device 405 within the working chamber426, the Y-table 202 is moved upward, as viewed in FIG. 13, to aposition at which the center line X₀-X₀ of the X-table 203 substantiallymatches an X-axis line X₁-X₁ which passes the axis of rotation O₂-O₂ ofthe second carrier unit 463. Also, the X-table 203 has moved to aposition close to the leftmost position, as viewed in FIG. 1-3, and iswaiting at this position.

When the degree of vacuum in the second loading chamber 438 is increasedto a level substantially identical to that of the working chamber 426,the door 473 of the shutter device 448 is moved to open the access ports445, 435, and the arm extends so that the leading end of the arm, whichholds a wafer, approaches the stage device 405 within the workingchamber 426. Then, the wafer W is placed on the carrying surface 130 ofthe stage device 405. Once the wafer W has been placed on the stagedevice 405, the arm is retracted, and the shutter device 448 closes theaccess ports 445, 435.

The foregoing description has been made on the operation until a waferin the cassette c is carried and placed on the stage device. Forreturning a wafer, which has been carried on the stage device andprocessed, from the stage device into the cassette c, the operationreverse to the foregoing is performed. Since a plurality of wafers arestored in the wafer rack 451, the first carrier unit can carry a waferbetween the cassette and the wafer rack while the second carrier unit iscarrying a wafer between the wafer rack and the stage device, so thatthe inspecting operation can be efficiently carried out.

FIGS. 1-7(A) and (B) are diagrams showing an exemplary electron beamcalibration mechanism. The electron beam calibration mechanism 480comprises a plurality of Faraday cups 482, 483 disposed at a pluralityof positions on the side of the wafer W placement face 481 on theturntable 455 (FIG. 1-2). The respective Faraday cups are provided tomeasure a beam current, where the Faraday cup 482 is used for a finebeam of approximately 2 μmφ, for example, while the Faraday cup 483 isused for a thick beam of approximately 30 μmφ, for example. The Faradaycup 482 for thin beam measures a beam profile by moving the turntable455 in steps, while the Faraday cup 483 for thick beam measures thetotal current amount of beam. The Faraday cups 482, 483 are disposedsuch that their top surfaces are at the same level as the top surface ofthe wafer W placed on the placement face 481. In this way, primaryelectron beams emitted from the electron gun is monitored at all times.This is because the electron gun cannot always emit a consistentelectron beam but varies the amount of electron beam emitted therefromas it is used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the general configuration of anelectro-optical system in the inspecting apparatus together with apositional relationship between a sample and a detection system. Theelectro-optical system is disposed in a vacuum chamber, and comprises aprimary electro-optical system (hereinafter simply called the “primaryoptical system”) PR for emitting a primary electron beam which is guidedto a sample SL for irradiation to the sample SL; and a secondaryelectro-optical system (hereinafter simply called the “secondary opticalsystem”) SE for guiding secondary electron beams emitted from the sampleSL to a detection system DT. The primary optical system PR, which is anoptical system for irradiating an electron beam onto the surface of thesample SL under inspection, comprises an electron gun 1 for emitting anelectron beam; a lens system 2 comprised of an electrostatic lens forconverging the primary electron beam emitted from the electron gun 1; aWhen filter or ExB separator 3; and an objective lens system 4, wherethe optical axis of the primary electron beam emitted from the electrongun 1 is inclined with respect to an irradiation optical axis of theelectron beam (perpendicular to the surface of the sample) which isirradiated to the sample SL. An electrode 5 is disposed between theobjective lens system 4 and sample SL. This electrode 5 is in a shapeaxially symmetric to the irradiation optical axis of the primaryelectron beam, and has its voltage controlled by a power supply 6.

The secondary optical system SE comprises a lens system 7 comprised ofelectrostatic lenses for passing therethrough secondary electronsseparated from the primary optical system by the ExB separator 3. Thislens system 7 functions as an enlarging lens for enlarging a secondaryelectron image. The detection system DT comprises a detection unit 8disposed on a focusing plane of the lens system 7, and an imageprocessing unit 9.

The present invention relates to improvements on a detection unit in theinspecting apparatus as described above, and will be described below ingreater detail in connection with embodiments of the inspectingapparatus according to the present invention with reference to thedrawings. Throughout all drawings, the same reference numerals refer tothe same or similar components.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a first embodiment of theinspecting apparatus according to the present invention, which comprisesa detector having an electron sensor and a detector having an opticalsensor both contained in a single chamber. In FIG. 3, a CCD detector 11and a TDI detector 12 are disposed within a vacuum chamber MC such thatan EB-CCD (electron bombardment charge coupled device) sensor 13 of theCCD detector 11 is positioned closer to a sample. In FIG. 3, the CCDdetector 11 and TDI detector 12 have their electron incident planeperpendicular to the drawing. The EB-CCD sensor 13 is supported suchthat it can be translated in the left-to-right direction in the figureby a moving mechanism M disposed outside of the vacuum chamber MC. Inthis way, the EB-CCD sensor 13 can be selectively moved to a position atwhich it receives an electron beam e, and to a position at which itdirectly applies the electron beam e into the TDI detector 12, thusmaking it possible to selectively use the CCD detector 11 and TDIdetector 12. Here, the moving mechanism M moves the EB-CCD sensor to aposition at which the optical axis to the EB-CCD sensor, the opticalaxis to lens conditions (lens intensity, beam deflection condition), andthe lens conditions (lens intensity, beam deflection condition) match,when the EB-CCD sensor is moved to the position at which it receives anelectron beam. This positioning condition can be mechanically modifiedby capturing images generated by the EB-CCD and EB-TDI for a samplehaving a known pattern. Though not shown, the CCD detector 11 comprisesa camera connected to the EB-CCD sensor 13, a controller, a framegrabber board, a PC and the like, to capture the output of the EB-CCDsensor 13, display images, and control the CCD detector 11.

The EB-CCD sensor 13, which comprises a plurality of pixels which aretwo-dimensionally arranged, receives the electron beam e emitted from asample and outputs a signal representative of a two-dimensional image ofthe sample. The EB-CCD sensor 13, when the electron beam is directlyincident thereon, provides a gain corresponding to the energy of theincident electron beam, i.e., electrons are amplified to accomplish theaccumulation of charges, and the charges are read at intervals ofdefined time (for example 33 Hz) and output as an electric signal of atwo-dimensional image of one frame. For example, the EB=CCD sensor 13used herein has pixels of 650 (horizontal direction)×485 (verticaldirection), a pixel size of 14 μm×14 μm, a frame acquisition frequencyof 33 Hz, and a gain of 100-1000. In this event, the gain of the EB-CCDsensor 13 is dominated by the energy of incident electrons, and canprovide the gain of 300, for example, when the incident energy is 4 keV.The gain can be adjusted by the structure of the EB-CCD sensor 13.

The TDI detector 12, in turn, comprises an MCP 14 for amplifying anelectron beam e emitted from a sample; a fluorescent plate 15 forreceiving the amplified electron beam for conversion into light; an FOP16 for transmitting the light generated from the fluorescent plate 15;and a TDI sensor 17 for receiving an optical signal from the FOP 16. Theoutput of the TDI sensor 17 is transmitted to the camera 19 through thepin 18, as swoon in FIG. 28(B). It should be noted that the MCP 14 isdisposed when electrons must be amplified, and may be omitted in somecases.

The MCP 14, fluorescent plate 15, FOP 16, and TDI sensor 17 are formedinto a single package, where output pins of the TDI sensor 17 isconnected to pins 18 of the field through unit FT by wire bonding oranother connection means. With the TDI sensor 17 operating at highspeeds to provide a large number of pixels, a large number of pins 18are required, for example, 100 to 1000 pines as the case may be. Thecamera 19 inputs and outputs image signals in accordance with controlsignals for image capturing. Though not shown, other than the camera 19,the inspecting apparatus is provided with a power supply and acontroller for the camera 19, and an image processing system forcapturing and processing an image signal from the camera 19. An imageevaluation value can be calculated by processing image data generated bythe image processing system, and, for example, when used in a defectinspection, sites of defects, type of defects, size of defects and thelike can be extracted and displayed on a screen.

A moving mechanism M is provided outside of the vacuum chamber M forselectively implementing a case where the CCD detector 11 is used and acase where the TDI detector 12 is used, and mechanically coupled to theEB-CCD sensor 13. When the CCD detector 11 is used to align the opticalaxes of the EB-CCD sensor and EB-TDI sensor, and adjust the lenscondition, the moving mechanism M is operated to move the EB-CCD sensor13 such that its center comes to the position of the optical axis of theelectron beam e. In this state, the electron beam e can be sent into theEB-CCD sensor 13 to generate an image signal representative of atwo-dimensional image of the sample. When the TDI detector 12 is usedafter the completion of adjustments to the optical axes and the like,the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved by the moving mechanism M to a place awayfrom the optical axis of the electro-optical system, for example, to aplace spaced by a distance (for example, approximately 5 to 300 mm) atwhich the EB-CCD sensor 13 does not affect an electron image and anelectron trajectory. In this way, the electron beam e is incident on theMCP 14 of the TDI detector 12 without being impeded by the EB-CCD sensor13. In this regard, a shield is preferably provided for preventingcharge-up at a junction at which the moving mechanism M is coupled tothe EB-CCD sensor 13 (described later). The provision of such amechanism eliminates the need for the TDI in the adjustments of theoptical axes and the like, so that the MCP is prevented from beinglocally damaged. In addition, since the EB-CCD sensor and EB-TDI sensorare disposed within the same vacuum chamber, it is not necessary tobreak the vacuum atmosphere to change the EB-CCD sensor with the EB-TDIsensor.

Also, since the EB-CCD sensor is operated when adjustments are made tothe optical axes and the like, the EB-CCD sensor and EB-TDI sensor maybe operated for the first one of wafers accommodated in a cassette, andthe EB-TDI sensor alone may be operated for the remaining wafers.Alternatively, the EB-CCD sensor may be operated every predeterminednumber of wafers to readjust the optical axes and the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a second embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention. The movingmechanism M shown in FIG. 3 can simply translate in one axial direction(for example, in the X-direction). Instead, in the second embodimentshown in FIG. 4, the moving mechanism M is configured to be movable inthree axial directions (X-, Y-, and Z-directions), to finely adjust thecenter of the EB-CCD sensor 13 with respect to the center of the opticalaxis of the electro-optical system. In this regard, an electrondeflection mechanism may be provided in front of the EB-sensor 13(closer to a sample) to adjust the position of the electron beam inorder to adjust the optical axis of the electro-optical system.

FIGS. 5(A)-5(C) schematically shown a third embodiment of an inspectingapparatus according to the present invention, where (A) is a view takenfrom the front, and (B) and (C) are views taken from one side. As shown,the moving mechanism M in this embodiment utilizes rotational movementsrather than movements in one axial or three axial directions. It shouldbe noted that the TDI detector 12 does not comprise the MCP because theelectron amplification is not needed in this embodiment.

In FIG. 5(A), one end of a rotary shaft 21 is coupled to one end of aflat EB-CCD sensor 13 which contains required circuits, substrates andthe like, while the other end of the rotary shaft 21 is coupled to themoving mechanism M. FIGS. 5(B) and 5(C) are views of the configurationshown in FIG. 5(A), taken from the side closer to the moving mechanismM. When the CCD detector 11 is used, the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved suchthat the sensor plane thereof is perpendicular to the electron beam e,thus causing the electron beam e to be incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13.When the TDI detector 12 is used, the rotary shaft 21 is rotated by themoving mechanism M, as shown in (C) to move the EB-CCD sensor 13 suchthat it is in parallel with the optical axis of the electro-opticalsystem. As such, the electron beam e is incident on the fluorescentplate 15 which converts the electron beam e into an optical signal whichis then incident on the TDI sensor 17 through the FOP 16.

The moving mechanism shown in FIG. 5, which utilizes the rotation, canbe advantageously reduced in size and weight, for example, by a factorof two to ten, as compared with the moving mechanism described inconnection with FIGS. 3 and 4, which utilizes movements in one or threeaxial direction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a fourth embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where twoEB-TDI sensors are provided instead of the single EB-CCD sensor in thefirst and third embodiments, such that one can be selected from theseEB-CCD sensors and the TDI detector 12. Specifically, a moving mechanismM is coupled to two EB-CCD sensors 131, 132 which differ in performance.For example, the EB-CCD sensor 131 has pixels the size of which is 14×14μm, while the EB-CCD sensor 132 has pixels, the size of which is 7×7 μm,and these EB-CCD sensors have different electron image resolutions inaccordance with their larger and smaller pixel sizes. In other words, animage generated by the EB-CCD sensor having the smaller pixel size (7μm) achieves a resolution twice or more higher than that generated bythe EB-CCD sensor having the larger pixel size (14 μm) in providing anelectron image. In this regard, the number of EB-CCD sensors is notlimited to two, but three or more EB-CCD sensors may be provided asrequired.

The inspecting apparatus which comprise the three components, i.e., theEB-CCD sensor 131, EB-CCD sensor 132, and TDI detector 12 placed in thesame vacuum chamber M may be used, by way of example, in the followingmanner. Assuming that the EB-CCD sensor 131 has the pixel size of 14 μm,and the EB-CCD sensor 132 has the pixel size of 7 μm, the EB-CCD sensor131 is used to adjust the optical axis of the electron beam, adjust theimage, and extract electron image acquisition conditions. Next, theEB-CCD sensor 131 is moved by the moving mechanism M to a position awayfrom the optical axis, so that the electron beam is incident on thefluorescent plate 15. An optical signal converted from electrons by thefluorescent plate 15 is incident on the TDI sensor 17 through the FOP16. In this way, the camera 19 captures electron images in successionusing the output of the TDI sensor 17. Thus, it is possible to perform,for example, an inspection of an LSI wafer for defects, an inspection ofan exposure mask, and the like. Using or referring to setting conditionsfor the electro-optical system extracted by the EB-CCD sensor 131, theimage capturing in the TDI detector 12 is performed in the camera 19.Such image capturing can be performed simultaneously with an inspectionfor defects (i.e., on-line) or after the image capturing (i.e.,off-line).

In an inspection for defects, information such as the location, type,size and the like of defects can be provided. After the image capturingand inspection for defects in the TDI detector 12, the moving mechanismM is actuated to move the EB-CCD sensor 132 to the position of theoptical axis, allowing the EB-CCD sensor 132 to capture images. In thisevent, since the location of defects has been known from the previouslyacquired result of the inspection for defect through the image capturingin the TDI detector 12, the EB-CCD sensor 132 performs image capturingfor evaluating the defects in greater detail. In this event, in additionto a high-resolution image capturing resulting from the smaller pixelsize of the EBG-CCD sensor 132, electron images can be captured with anincreased number of electrons taken for an image, or with a longer imagecapturing duration. When the image capturing time is prolonged toincrease the number of electrons acquired per pixel (the number ofelectrons per pixel), an electron image of miniature defects can be moreclearly captured with high contract (high MTF condition) to acquiredata. This is because a larger number of electrons per pixel results ina reduction in noise component due to fluctuations in luminance and thelike to improve the S/N ratio and MTF. In this way, the EB-CCD sensor132 having a smaller pixel size can be used to evaluate defects indetail, for example, the type, size and the like of the defects indetail. The ability to evaluate the type of defect in detail can lead toimprovements on the process by feeding back information on where and howmany defects of the same type have occurred, and the like, to theprocess.

Fluctuations in luminance are caused by fluctuations in the number ofincident electrons, fluctuations in the amount of electrons to lightconversion, fluctuations in noise level of the sensor, statistic noise,and the like. Also, when there is an electronic amplifier such as MCP,the fluctuations in the number of electrons by electron amplificationconstitute a factor as well. Such fluctuation noise can be reduced byincreasing the number of electrons, and can be reduced to approximatelya root value of an output luminance value at the highest noisefluctuation level (for example, the noise fluctuation level is 700̂0.5with 700 halftone values). Showing an example of the number of electronsper pixel in each detector, the EB-CCD sensor 131 presents 20-1000 perpixel; the EB-CCD sensor 132 200-200000 per pixel; and the TDI detector12 10-1000 per pixel.

When a plurality of detectors are implemented such that they areswitched for use in particular functions as shown in FIG. 6, one and thesame inspecting apparatus can perform both inspection and detailedevaluation on defects. Conventionally, a wafer is moved to a dedicatedanalyzer (review SEM or the like) after an inspection for evaluating thetype and size of defects in detail. When the detailed evaluation can beperformed in the same apparatus, it is possible to make shorter and moreefficient the detail evaluation of the inspection for defects andimprovements in process.

Even when a single EB-CCD sensor 13 is provided, as has been describedin connection with FIGS. 3 to 5, defects can be evaluated afterinspecting the defects through image capturing using the TDI detector12, in which case the number of acquired electrons per pixel isincreased to reduce noise fluctuation components before the defects areevaluated. In this way, the type and size of the defects can beevaluated without using a dedicated defect analyzer, and even if it isused, the defect analyzer can be reduced, and improvements in processand process management can be more efficiently accomplished.

In the embodiment so far described, the mechanism for switching the CCDdetector 11 and TDI detector 12 utilizes mechanical movements. Incontrast, FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a fifth embodimentof an inspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where anelectronic deflector is utilized for a switching mechanism. While thisembodiment also uses a single CCD detector 11 and a single TDI detector12 by selectively switching them, the CCD detector 11 is placed out ofthe optical axis (trajectory of an electron beam e) at a predeterminedangle to the optical axis, as shown. Also, a deflector 41 is disposed onthe optical axis for switching the trajectory of the electron beam ebetween the CCD detector 11 and the TDI detector 12. The deflectionangle of the deflector 41 is preferably in the range of 3 to 30°. Thisis because excessive deflection of secondary beam would result indistortions in a two-dimensional image and larger aberration.

In this embodiment, the EB-CCD sensor 13 is electrically connected to acamera 44 through a wire 42 and a feed through flange 43. Thus, when theCCD detector 11 is used, the trajectory of the electron beam e isdeflected by the deflector 41, such that the electron beam e isperpendicularly incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13. The incident electronbeam e is converted into an electric signal by the EB-CCD sensor 13, andthe electric signal is transmitted to the camera 44 through the wire 42.On the other hand, when the TDI detector 12 is used, the deflector 41 isnot operated. Consequently, the electron beam e is incident on thefluorescent plate 15 directly or through the MCP 14. The electron beamincident on the fluorescent plate 15 is converted into an optical signalwhich is transmitted to a TDI sensor 17 through an FOP 16, and isconverted into an electric signal by the TDI sensor 17 for transmissionto a camera 19.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a sixth embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where a CCDdetector 11 and a TDI detector 12 each comprise an electron sensor forreceiving an electron beam. Specifically, the CCD detector 11 employs anEB-CCD sensor 13, whereas the TDI detector 12 employs an EB-TDI(electron bombardment time delay integration) sensor t1 as an electronsensor, causing an electron beam e to be directly incident on the EB-TDIsensor 51. In this configuration, the CCD detector 11 is used to adjustthe optical axis of the electron beam, as well as adjust and optimizeimage capturing conditions. On the other hand, when the EB-TDI sensor 51of the TDI detector 12 is used, the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved by themoving mechanism M to a position away from the optical axis, aspreviously described, before an image capturing is performed by the TDIdetector 12 using or referring to conditions which have been found whenthe CCD detector 11 is used, to perform evaluation or measurement.

As described above, in this embodiment, a semiconductor wafer can beinspected for defects by the EB-TDI sensor 51 using or referring toelectro-optical conditions which have been found when the CCD detector11 is used. Also, an evaluation on defects can be performed for thetype, size and the like of the defects using the CCD detector 11 afterthe inspection for the defects by the TDI detector 12.

The EB-TDI sensor 51 is, for example, in a rectangular shape, with itspixels arranged in a two-dimensional array such that the electron beam ecan be directly received thereby for use in forming an electron image,where the image size is in the range of 5-20 μm, the number of pixels isin the range of 1000-8000 in the horizontal direction and 1-8000 in thescanning direction, and the gain is in the range of 10-5000. The EB-TDIsensor 51 can be used at a line rate of 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The gain isdictated by the energy of incident electrons. For example, when anincident electron beam has energy of 4 kev, the gain can be set in therange of 200 to 900, and the gain can be adjusted by the sensorstructure with the same energy. In this way, when the EB-TDI sensor isused in an apparatus for capturing an electron image, the apparatus canadvantageously capture images in succession, as well as achieve higherMTF (or contrast) and a higher resolution, as compared with a TDI sensorfor sensing light.

Actually, in this embodiment, the TDI detector 12 is also formed intothe shape of package, so that the package itself serves as a feedthrough, with pins 18 of the package connected to the camera 19 on theatmosphere side. When configured as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible toeliminate disadvantages such as a loss in optical conversion due to FOP,optical glass for hermetic sealing, optical lenses and the like,aberration and distortion during optical transmissions and degradationin image resolution caused thereby, failed detection, high cost,increase in size, and the like, as compared with the first to fifthembodiments so far described.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing pixels P11-Pij on a sensor plane 51′ of anEB-TDI sensor 51. In FIG. 9, an arrow T1 indicates an integrationdirection of the sensor plane 51′, which is a direction perpendicular toa T2 integration direction T1, i.e., a direction in which a stage S ismoved in succession. The pixels P11-Pij of the sensor t1 are arranged in500 steps in the integration direction T1 (number of integration stepsi=500), and 4000 (j=4000) in the successive movement direction T2 of thestage S.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the positional relationshipbetween the EB-TDI sensor 51 and a secondary electron beam. In FIG. 10,when a secondary electron beams EB emitted from a wafer W is emittedfrom the same positions of the wafer W for a certain time, the secondaryelectron beam EB is sequentially incident on a series of positions a, b,c, d, e, . . . on a projection optical system MO in the order of a to inassociation with successive movements of the stage S. The secondaryelectron beam EB incident on the projection optical system MO issequentially emitted from a series of positions a′, b′, c′, d′, e′, . .. , i′ on the projection optical system MO. In this event, when a chargeintegration movement in the integration direction T1 of the EB-TDIsensor 51 is synchronized with the successive movements of the stage S,the secondary electron beams EB emitted from the positions a′, b′, c′,d′, e′, . . . , i′ on the projection optical system MO are sequentiallyincident on the same positions on the sensor plane 51′, so that thecharge can be integrated by the number of integration steps i. In thisway, each pixel P11-Pij on the sensor plane 51′ can acquire more signalsof radiated electrons, thereby accomplishing a higher S/N ratio, andcapturing a two-dimensional image at high speeds. The projection opticalsystem MO has a magnification of 300 times, by way of example.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a seventh embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention. As can be seenfrom the figure, a TDI detector 12 comprising an electron sensor fordetecting an electron beam is used instead of the TDI detector 12comprising an optical sensor in the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 7.

Likewise, in this embodiment, an EB-CCD sensor 13 of a CCD detector 11is electrically connected to a camera 44 through a wire 42 and a feedthrough flange 43. When the CCD detector 11 is used, the trajectory ofthe electron beam is deflected by a deflector 41, such that the electronbeam e is incident perpendicularly to the EB-CCD sensor 13. The incidentelectron beam is converted into an electric signal by the EB-CCD sensor13 for transmission to the camera 44 through the wire 42. On the otherhand, when the TDI detector 12 is used, the deflector is not operated,so that the electron beam e is directly incident on the EB-TDI sensor 51for conversion into an electric signal which is then transmitted to acamera 19.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing an eighth embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where a CCDdetector 11 and a TDI detector 12 each comprises an optical sensor fordetecting light, and are configured to be switched by making use ofdeflection of electron beam. Specifically, the CCD detector 11 comprisesa CCD sensor for detecting light instead of the EB-CCD sensor 13. TheCCD detector 11 comprises an MCP 61 for amplifying an electron beam; afluorescent plate 62 for converting an amplified electron beam intolight; an optical lens 63 for converging light exiting the fluorescentplate 62 and transmitting a light transmission area of a feed throughflange 43; a CCD sensor 64 for converting light converged by the opticallens into an electric signal; and a camera 44 for capturing an imageusing the electric signal.

In this embodiment, the two detectors, i.e., the TDI detector 12 and CCDdetector 11 are disposed in a single vacuum chamber, but three or moredetectors may be provided as long as the size of the vacuum chamberpermits. Also, as described above, the MCPs 14, 61 may be omitted if theamplification of electrons is not required.

A deflector 41 is provided in this embodiment for switching thetrajectory of the electron beam to the TDI detector 12 or to the CCDdetector 11. Thus, when the CCD detector 11 is used, the electron beam eis deflected by 5 to 30 degrees by the deflector 41 such that electronsare incident on the fluorescent plate 62 through the MCP 61 or withoutthe intervention of the MCP 61. After an electro-optical conversion hasbeen made herein, optical image information is converged by the opticallens 63 mounted in the feed through flange 43 and directed into the CCDsensor 64. The optical lens 63 and CCD sensor 64 are placed in theatmosphere. The optical lens 63 is provided with a lens (not shown) foradjusting aberration and focus.

On the other hand, when the TDI detector 12 is used, the deflector 41 isnot operated, permitting the electron beam e to travel directly to beincident on the MCP 14, or on the fluorescent plate 15 when the MCP 14is not used. An electro-optical conversion is performed by thefluorescent plate 15, and the optical information is transmitted to theTDI sensor 17 through the FOP 16.

In the eighth embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the CCD sensor 64 is placedon the atmosphere side, while the TDI sensor 17 is placed in a vacuum.On the other hand, in a ninth embodiment of an inspecting apparatusaccording to the present invention, schematically shown in FIG. 13, aTDI sensor 17 and a CCD sensor 64 are placed on the atmosphere side. Inthis embodiment, since the configuration of the CCD detector 11 is thesame as that shown in FIG. 12, a description thereon is omitted herein.The TDI detector 12 comprises an MCP 14, a fluorescent plate 15, anoptical lens 17, a TDI sensor 17, and a camera 19. An electron beam e,which travels straight without being deflected by the deflector 41, isamplified by the MCP 14, or is directly incident on the fluorescentplate 15, when the MCP 14 is not used, to undergo an electro-opticalconversion thereby, and the optical information is converged by anoptical lens 71 mounted in a hermetic flange 72, and is incident on theTDI sensor 17. In this way, the trajectory of the electron beam e isswitched by the deflector 41 such that the CCD detector 11′ and TDIdetector 12 can be selectively used.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing a tenth embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where a CCDdetector 11 and a TDI detector 12 each comprise an optical sensor fordetecting light. These optical sensors are disposed within a singlechamber, and the detectors are switched through translation or rotation.Specifically, the CCD sensor 64 of the CCD detector 11 and the TDIsensor 17 of the TDI detector 12 are disposed within a single vacuumchamber MC. In this embodiment, since the TDI detector 12 is the same asthat shown in FIG. 12, a repeated description is omitted herein. The CCDdetector 11 comprises an MCP 61, a fluorescent plate 62, an FOP 81, anda CCD sensor 64. When the TDI detector 12 is used, the CCD detector 11is moved by a moving mechanism M to go away from the optical axis of theelectron beam e (to the right in the figure). In either of thedetectors, during use, the electron beam e is amplified by MCP 14, 61,or is directly incident on the fluorescent plate 15, 62 without usingthe MCP 14, 61 to undergo an electro-optical conversion, and theresulting optical information is transmitted to the sensor 17, 64through the FOP 16, 81 for conversion into an electric signal which isthen captured by the camera.

FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically showing an eleventh embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention, where a movingmechanism is used in combination with a deflector 41 as a switchingmechanism such that one can be selected from five detectors. In FIG. 15,an EB-CCD sensor 92 of a first detector, an EB-CCD sensor 93 of a seconddetector, and an EB-CCD sensor 94 of a third detector are mounted in acylindrical shield block 91 which translates in a direction indicated byan arrow by the moving mechanism M. A shield hole 95 is formed throughthe shield block 91 at a proper site for passing an electron beam etherethrough, and an EB-TDI sensor 51 of a fourth detector is providedon a trajectory along which the electron beam e travels straight afterit has passed through the shield hole 95. Further, a TDI detector 12,which is a fifth detector, is provided at a position at which itreceives the electron beam which has been deflected by the deflector 41in the trajectory direction and passed through the shield hole 95. Theshield block 91 used herein may be a cylindrical structure of 1-100 mmdiameter, by way of example, which is preferably made of such a materialas a metal such as titanium, phosphor bronze, aluminum or the like, or anon-magnetic material, or aluminum plated with gold or titanium platedwith gold may also be used.

Thus, when an image is captured by any of the EB-CCD sensors 92-94 ofthe first to third detectors, the shield block 91 is moved by the movingmechanism M without actuating the deflector 41, such that the center ofany EB-TDI sensor may be moved to the position of the trajectory of theelectron beam e. When the electron beam is incident on the EB-TDI sensorof the fourth detector, the shield block 91 is moved by the movingmechanism M without actuating the deflector 41 to a position at whichthe electron beam can pass through the shield hole 95. Also, when animage is captured by the TDI detector 12 which is the fifth detector,the deflector 41 is actuated, and the shield block 91 is moved by themoving mechanism M to a position at which the electron beam can passthrough the shield hole 95.

The EB-CCD sensors 92-94, TDI sensor 17, and EB-TDI sensor 51 used inthis embodiment differ from one another in performance such as theelement size, driving frequency, sensor size and the like, depending ontheir respective uses and purposes. One example is listed below.

First EB-CCD Sensor 92:

Pixel Size: 14 μm, Frame rate: 100 Hz, Sensor Size: 3500×3500 μm;

Second EB-CCD Sensor 93:

Pixel Size: 7 μm, Frame rate: 33 Hz, Sensor Size: 3500×3500 μm;

Third EB-CCD Sensor 94:

Pixel Size: 3 μm, Frame rate: 10 Hz, Sensor Size: 3000×3000 μm;

EB-TDI Sensor 51:

Pixel Size: 14 μm, Scan Rate: 100-1000 kHz supported,

Sensor Size: 56×28 mm; and

TDI sensor 17:

Pixel Size: 14 μm, Scan Rate: 1-100 kHz supported,

Sensor Size: 56×28 mm.

Describing an exemplary usage of a plurality of sensors as mentionedabove, the EB-CCD sensor 92 is used to adjust the electro-optical systemof the optical beam, i.e., for optimization of lens conditions, alignerconditions, magnification, and stig conditions. While a lens voltage, analigner voltage, a stig voltage and the like are controlled by imageprocessing, such control and image processing are fully automated suinga personal computer which incorporates an automatic control function.Images are captured at high speeds using the EB-CCD sensor 92 whichprovides a high frame rate to adjust automatic conditions.

The EB-CCD sensor 93 operates at a frequently used frame rate of 33 Hz,a speed which can be sufficiently determined by the human's eyes.Therefore, a work for confirming adjustment, and observation of asample, for example, observation, evaluation and the like of an image ofdefects after an inspection for defects are performed while viewing theimage. When miniature defects are found during observation so thatobservation, evaluation, and classification of defects at higherresolution are desired, the EB-CCD sensor 94 is used. The EB-CCD sensor94 has smaller pixels and accordingly a higher resolution, but requiresa longer time for image capturing due to its lower frame rate. It istherefore necessary to select a site to be observed for image capturing.

The TDI detector 12 and EB-TDI sensor are properly used in accordancewith their different scan rates (line rates). Generally, frequenciescorresponding to the scan rate of a TDI sensor are limited in afrequency range supported by a circuit. Also, it is difficult to designa driving circuit which satisfies both low frequencies and highfrequencies. As such, the E-TDI sensor 51 is used to inspect at highspeeds and at high frequencies, while the TDI detector 12 is used toperform an inspection for defects at lower frequencies of 1-100 kHz.However, any of the TDI detector 12 and the EB-TDI sensor 51 may be usedfor high frequencies and low frequencies without any hitch.Nevertheless, since the electron beam directly enters the sensor, theEB-TDI sensor 51 presents a higher sensor temperature. Also, since theEB-TDI sensor 51 suffers from relatively much thermal noise, it issuited to high frequencies at which a short time is taken for capturingimages.

In the eleventh embodiment shown in FIG. 15, an arbitrary number ofdetectors can be disposed within a single vacuum chamber as required.For example, one or more EB-CCD sensors can be mounted in the shieldblock 91 in accordance with its length and necessity, and any of thedetector having the EB-TDI sensor 51 and the TDI detector 12 may beomitted.

FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically showing a twelfth embodiment of aninspecting apparatus according to the present invention. In theembodiments so far described, a plurality of detectors or sensors aredisposed within a single vacuum chamber MC in all the embodiments exceptfor the eighth and ninth embodiments. In this twelfth embodiment, twovacuum spaces are defined in a single vacuum chamber MC, such that adetector is disposed in each of the vacuum spaces. Specifically, anEB-TDI sensor 51 of a TDI detector 12 is disposed in one space of thevacuum chamber MC, while an EB-CCD sensor of a CCD detector 11 isdisposed in the other vacuum space coupled to the vacuum chamber MC. Forimplementing this, a port 101 is provided so as to extend from thevacuum chamber MC at a proper position in FIG. 16, and one end thereofis connected to one end of a vacuum chamber MC′, which provides theother vacuum space, through a gate valve 102. The other end of thevacuum chamber MC′ is sealed by a feed through flange FF′. An EB-CCDsensor 13 is disposed within the vacuum chamber MC′ which provides theother vacuum space, and the EB-CCD sensor 13 is connected to a camera 44on the atmosphere side through a wire 42 which passes through the feedthrough flange FF′.

In FIG. 16, when the electron beam is incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13disposed in the vacuum chamber MC′, the traveling direction of theelectron beam e is switched by the deflector 41, and the gate valve 102is opened. An output signal from the EB-CCD sensor 13 is transmitted tothe camera 44 through the wire 42.

Advantageously, with the EB-CCD sensor 13 which is disposed in adifferent vacuum space from the vacuum space in which the EB-TDI sensor51 is disposed, the one vacuum space is not open to the atmosphere onlyif the gate valve 102 is closed, when the EB-CCD sensor 13 is changed.However, due to different conditions for focusing on the sensor plane(distance, magnification and the like), it is necessary to establishappropriate focusing conditions for the electron beam by controlling avoltage applied to a lens (not shown) placed in front of the deflector41.

As described above, in the first to twelfth embodiments, the EB-CCDsensor, TDI sensor, EB-TDI sensor, and CCD sensor are disposed within avacuum chamber, so that images can be captured with high contrast andhigh resolution, and a higher throughput and a lower cost can beaccomplished because of the elimination of optical transmission loss, ascompared with conventional approaches.

In regard to the number of pixels, arbitrary numbers of pixels may beselected for the TDI sensor, CCD sensor, EB-TDI sensor, and EB-CCDsensor used in the first to twelfth embodiments. The numbers of pixelsused in general are shown below:

CCD Sensor:

640 (horizontal)×480 (vertical), 1000 (horizontal)×1000 (vertical), 2000(horizontal)×2000 (vertical);

EB-CCD Sensor:

640 (horizontal)×480 (vertical), 1000 (horizontal)×1000 (vertical), 2000(horizontal)×2000 (vertical);

TDI Sensor:

1000 (horizontal)×100 (vertical), 2000 (horizontal)×500 (vertical), 4000(horizontal)×1000 (vertical), 4000 (horizontal)×2000 (vertical); and

EB-TDI Sensor:

1000 (horizontal)×100 (vertical), 2000 (horizontal)×500 (vertical), 4000(horizontal)×1000 (vertical), 4000 (horizontal)×2000 (vertical).

The numbers of pixels listed above are merely exemplary, andintermediate values between the foregoing numbers of pixels, or largernumbers of pixels can be used as well. While the TDI sensor and EB-TDIsensor typically integrate (scan) in the vertical direction, they mayhave one pixel in the vertical direction (for example, 2000×1) if thereare sufficient input signals. On the other hand, while the TDI sensorand EB-TDI sensor operate at line rates of 1 kHz to 1 MHz (moving speedin the integration direction), they are often used at 10 to 500 kHz.While the CCD sensor and EB-CCD sensor operate at frame rate of 1 to1000 Hz, they are typically used at 1 to 100 Hz. These frequencies areselected to appropriate values depending on applications such asadjustments of the electro-optical system, observation of review, andthe like.

When a sensor having a large pixel size is disposed in the vacuumchamber MC, a larger number of pins are required such as pins fortransmitting sensor driving signals, control signals and output signals,common pins, and the like. For example, the number of pins can amount toapproximately 100-500 in some cases. With the number of pins thusincreased, difficulties are experienced in the connection with the feedthrough flange using a normal contact socket. Also, the normal contactsocket suffers from a high insertion pressure which will exceeds 100g/pin. If the insertion pressure exceeds 1 kg/cm² when a sensor packageis fixed, the package can be damaged. For example, with a securingmember for fixation of approximately 4 cm², a securing pressure must belimited to 4 kg/4 cm² or less. Assuming that there are 100 pins with arequired insertion pressure of 100 g/pin, the securing pressure amountsto 10 kg, resulting in damages of the package. It is therefore importantto use a connection socket which has a resilient member such as a springfor connection of the package with pins of the feed through flange. Sucha connection socket incorporating a resilient member can be used with aninsertion pressure of 5-30 g/pin, so that the package can be fixedwithout damages, and driving signals and output signals can betransmitted therethrough without problem. Also, when a sensor is used invacuum, the emission of gas is problematic. Accordingly, a connectionsocket used therefor may be formed with a vent hole, the interior andperiphery of which is plated with gold.

Generally, a sensor is placed in a ceramic package, where required wiresare connected to wire pads of the ceramic packages by wire bonding orthe like. The ceramic package has wires incorporated therein, and isprovided with connection pins on the back surface thereof (opposite tothe surface on which the sensor is mounted). The connection pins areconnected to pins of a feed through flange by connection parts. Pinsoutside of the feed through flange (on the atmosphere side) areconnected to a camera.

Now, a description will be made on the moving mechanism M which is usedin the embodiment so far described. FIG. 17 schematically shows themoving mechanism for translating the EB-CCD sensor 13. The movingmechanism M comprises a shield block 112 which is a cylindrical orhollow prism member extending through an opening 111 formed through avacuum chamber MC at an appropriate position, and the EB-CCD sensor 13and a circuit board 113 are provided in the shield block 112. The shieldblock 112 is formed with a shield hole 114 having a size similar to thatof the EB-CCD sensor 13 or a size of approximately 0.5 to 1 mm, throughwhich an electron beam is incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13. The shieldhole 114 serves as a noise cut aperture for removing unwanted electrons.The shield block 112 is provided for preventing electron beams fromimpinging on insulated portions to cause charge-up to impede normaloperations. In this regard, a preferable material for the shield block112 is a metal such as titanium, phosphor bronze, aluminum or the like,or a non-magnetic material, in order to reduce the influence of a metaloxide film and sticking of contamination. Alternatively, aluminum platedwith gold or titanium plated with gold may also be used for the shieldblock 112.

On end of the shield block 112 is coupled to a feed through flange 116fixed to a bellows arranged to surround the periphery of the opening111. Therefore, wires extending from the circuit board 113 are connectedto a camera 118 through the feed through portion 117 of the feed throughflange 116. The wires 42 are routed to pass through a hollow portion ofthe shield block 112, which is considered to prevent electron beams fromimpinging on the wires 42. This is because electron beams impinging onthe wires 42 cause charge-up on the wires 42, resulting in adverseaffects such as a change in the trajectory of the electron beams.

On end of the feed through flange 116 is coupled to a ball screwmechanism 119, and a rotary motor 120 or a rotary handle is connected toan end of the ball screw mechanism 119. Further, both ends of the feedthrough flange 116 are coupled to a guide rail 121 which extends fromthe vacuum chamber MC. As such, as the rotary motor 120 is actuated orthe handle is turned, the ball screw mechanism 119 translates in adirection perpendicular to the wall surface of the vacuum chamber MC,and the feed through flange 116, in association therewith, moves alongthe guide rail 121, causing translations of the shield block 112 as wellas the EB-CCD sensor 13 and circuit board 113 contained therein. As aresult, it is possible to selectively create a scenario in which theelectron beam is incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13, and a scenario inwhich the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved such that the electron beam isincident on the TDI detector 12.

Next, FIG. 18 schematically shows the configuration of a movingmechanism M for causing translations using an air actuator mechanisminstead of the rotary motor. As described in connection with FIG. 17,the EB-CCD sensor 13 and circuit board 113 are disposed within theshield block 112 which passes through the opening 111 formed through thevacuum chamber MC at an appropriate position. The shield block 112 isformed with the shield hole 114 for causing the electron beam to beincident on the EB-CCD sensor 13. Also, one end of the shield block 112is coupled to the feed through flange 116 fixed to the bellows 115arranged to surround the periphery of the opening 111. The wires 42extending from the circuit board 113 are connected to the camera 118through the feed through portion 117 of the feed through flange 116.Further, a shield hole 114′ is formed through the shield block 112 at anappropriate position for causing the electron beam to be incident on theTDI detector 12 when the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved.

On the other hand, an opening 131 is also formed through a wall surfaceopposite to the opening 111, a hollow cylindrical member 132 is providedto surround the opening 131, and a flange 134 mounted with an airactuator mechanism 133 is fixed to one end of the cylindrical member132. The air actuator mechanism 133 comprises a piston 135 coupled to anend of the shield block 112. The piston 135, which is vacuum shielded byan O-ring or omni-seal 136, is made movable relative to the flange 134.Also, the air actuator mechanism 133 comprises a hole 138 forintroducing or exhausting compressed air into or from an air tightchamber 137 for moving the piston 135 to the left or right in thefigure.

Thus, the air actuator mechanism 133 is actuated to introduce or exhaustcompressed air into or from the air tight chamber through the hole 138to move the piston 135 to the right, and simultaneously, the shieldblock 112 is moved in the same direction along the guide rail 121,causing the shield hole 114′ to move to a position at which the electronbeam is incident on the TDI detector 12. Conversely, for causing theelectron beam to be incident on the EB-CCD sensor 13, the piston 135 maybe moved to the left to place the shield hole 114 of the shield block112 at a position on the optical axis of the electron beam. The airactuator mechanism 133 can be operated with air pressure of 0.1 to 0.5MPa. For example, a pressure difference is generated on the piston 1335by switching the introduction and exhaustion direction of the compressedair, for example, by an electromagnetic valve, to operate the airactuator mechanism 133. In this way, it is possible to selectivelycreate a scenario in which the electron beam is incident on the EB-CCDsensor 13, and a scenario in which the EB-CCD sensor 13 is moved suchthat the electron beam is incident on the TDI detector 12.

Further, FIG. 19 shows a moving mechanism which utilizes the rotation.An opening 111 is formed through the wall of a vacuum chamber MC at anappropriate position, and a cylindrical member 114 is protrusivelyarranged to surround the opening 111. A cylindrical shaft 142 issupported by a bearing 143 so as to be rotatable relative to thecylindrical member 141, and the cylindrical shaft 142 vacuum seals thecylinder member 141 with a sealing member 144. An omni-seal is a sealingmember made of Teflon, and is effective for the sealing member 144 whichinvolves movements such as rotation, translation and the like, becauseof its small coefficient of dynamic friction. Also, the use of thebearing 143 can stabilize the rotation of the cylindrical shaft 142, andkeep fluctuations of the axis of rotation small.

An EB-CCD sensor 13, a circuit board 113, and wires 42 are disposed inthe cylindrical shaft 142. The cylindrical shaft 142 has a flange-shapedend, and a gear 145 is fitted on the periphery of the cylindrical shaft142. A feed through flange 116 is attached to the flange through anO-ring or ICF vacuum sealing structure 146, and a camera 118 isconnected to the feed through flange 116. In the ICF vacuum sealstructure, a sealing member for ICF is used for vacuum sealing. Thewires 42 within the cylindrical shaft 142 are connected to the camera118 by way of a plurality of pins of the feed through flange 116 forconnection.

A gear 147 is provided in correspondence to the gear 145 fitted on theflange at the end of the cylindrical shaft 142. The gear 147 is drivenby a rotary actuator 148. Thus, as a rotating shaft of the rotaryactuator 148 rotates, the gear 147 rotates, causing the gear 145 torotate. A rotating angle of the gear 145 can be adjusted by the rotaryactuator 148, so that the actuator can be used with a desired definedangle such as 90 degrees, 180 degrees and the like. For example,assuming that the gear ratio is at 1:1, the rotating angle of the rotaryactuator 148 may be 90°. In this way, by rotating the rotary actuator148 by 90°, the electron beam can be selectively incident on any of theEB-CCD sensor 13 and TDI detector 12.

A description has been so far made, centered on the detectors, on itsconfiguration and mechanisms for selective usage thereof. In thefollowing, the general configuration of an inspecting apparatuscomprising such a detector will be described, including anelectro-optical system, with reference to FIGS. 20 to 23. In thesefigures, a detection unit DU is provided with any of the first totwelfth embodiments, and an electro-optical system is provided at thepreceding stage to the detection unit DU. The detection unit DUpreferably has the ability to form a two-dimensional image. For thispurpose, it is necessary to employ a detector which receives an electronbeam representative of a two-dimensional electron image to form atwo-dimensional image. As previously described, there are a detectorwhich employs an EB-CCD sensor and/or an EB-TDI sensor on whichelectrons are directly incident, and a detector which detects lightconverted from incident electrons using a CCD sensor and/or a TDIsensor.

First, an inspecting apparatus shown in FIG. 20 is an example which iscombined with a detection unit which includes an electron source, aprojection optical system, and a plurality of detectors. A primaryelectron beam emitted from an electron gun 151 passes through a lens152, an apertures 153, 154, and a lens 155 in this order, and isincident on an ExB filter 156. The primary electron beam, which travelsin a direction deflected by the ExB filter 156, passes through a lens157, an aperture 158, and lenses 159, 160, and is irradiated to thesurface of a wafer W carried on an XYZθ stage S. The wafer W is, forexample, an Si wafer of 300 mm diameter, which is formed thereon with apattern structure in the middle of a semiconductor circuit manufacturingprocess. The stage S can move in three orthogonal directions, X-, Y-,Z-directions, and rotate in a θ-direction, and the wafer W is fixed onthe stage S by an electrostatic chuck.

Electron beams emitted from the surface of the wafer W represents atwo-dimensional electron image which reflects the shape of patternsformed in the surface of the wafer. The electron beams emitted from thewafer W pass through the lenses 160, 159, aperture 158, and lens 157,and travels straight, without being bent by the ExB filter 156, passthrough a lens 161, an aperture 162, a lens 163, and an aligner 164, andis introduced into the detection unit DU. The electron beams thusintroduced into the detection unit DU are incident on a detectorselected from a plurality of detectors which have been described in thefirst to twelfth embodiments. The apertures 158, 162 perform noise cutoperations.

It should be noted that voltages applied to the respective lenses areset to meet conditions for focusing the emitted electrons at apredefined magnification. Also, focus adjustment, distortion adjustment,aligner adjustment, aperture position adjustment, and ExB conditionadjustment are performed as optical axis adjustments. The lenses 157,159 are tablet lenses which are dual telecentric and accomplish lowaberration and low distortions. This lens system can providemagnification of 5-1000 times. Distortions are corrected by a stig (notshown), and conditions for adjustment have been periodically calculatedusing a reference wafer. For adjusting the positions of the aligner andaperture, previously found values are used for a predefinedmagnification to be used, and ExB is adjusted using a voltage of theelectron source 151, i.e., a value previously found for the energy ofthe primary electron beam.

When a wafer has a pattern of oxide films and/or nitride films, anoptical correction for distortions alone is not sufficient, so thatevaluation points are sampled from a captured image to evaluate shiftsin position for correcting distortions. For example, the wafer may becompared with CAD data or review SEM image for evaluation with respectto the horizontal degree, vertical degree, coordinate position, and thelike. Subsequently, an inspection can be made for defects on adie-to-die or a cell-to-cell basis or the like. IN the die-to-dieinspection for defect, an inspection area is set within a die, andcaptured images of the same inspection areas from other dies arecompared to determine the presence/absence and type of defects.

It should be noted that electron beams emitted from the wafer W may beany of secondary electrons, reflected electrons, back scatteredelectrons, and Auger electrons. Since these electrons differ in energyfrom one another, an electron image can be captured by selectingfocusing conditions with the energy of desired electrons. Voltageconditions for focusing can be previously calculated through simulationsor the like.

The detection of the image of the wafer W in the detection unit DUinvolves first moving the stage S such that a predetermined position ofthe wafer W can be detected, and next detecting a viewing fieldcorresponding to a magnification at that position, for example, an imageof an area of 200×200 μm at a magnification of 300 times. By repeatingthis operation at high speeds, a plurality of positions are detected onthe wafer W. Likewise, a comparison of images involves repetitions ofoperations for moving the stage S to allow the detection unit DU todetect a desired area on the wafer W and capturing an image, andcomparing captured data with one another. Through such an inspectionprocess, it is possible to determine the presence/absence of defectssuch as debris, defective conduction, defective pattern, missing patternand the like, determine the states of the defects, and classify thedefects.

An example of specific operation conditions for the inspecting apparatusshown in FIG. 20 is listed below.

Pressure within Vacuum Chamber MC during Operation: 1×10-1×10⁻⁴ Pa;

Stage Moving Speed: 0.1-100 mm/s;

Wafer Irradiated Current Density: 1×10−5-1×10−1 A/cm₂;

Size of Irradiated Electron Beam: Ellipse of 500×300-10×5 μm;

Magnification: 10-2000;

Amount of Electrons Incident on Detection Unit: 10 pA-1 mA; and

Energy Incident on Detection Unit: 1-8 keV.

The irradiated current density is controlled by feeding back the outputof the detection unit DU. When the outputs of the CCD detector and TDIdetector are controlled to fall within 50-80% of their saturationvalues, they can be used within a range in which the input/outputrelationship of these detectors can maintain the linearity (i.e., arange in which a shift in linearity is 3% or less), so that images canbe highly accurately evaluated. Particularly, with the performance ofshading processing for subtracting background noise, or the like, theprocessing effect is low, and pseudo effects can occur to the contraryin a region with low linearity. Alternatively, the irradiated currentdensity can be controlled using an image evaluation value by an imageprocessing system or the like, instead of the output of the detectionunit DU. The control of the irradiated current density using thecontrast, maximum luminance, minimum luminance, average luminance, andthe like of an image is effective in capturing stable images. It is alsopossible to perform stable image comparisons by standardizing theluminance and contrast of images to be compared, i.e., under the sameconditions.

FIG. 21 shows an example which is configured to use one of UV light, UVlaser light, and X-ray instead of an electron beam in the inspectingapparatus described in FIG. 20. Specifically, an UV light source 171 isprovided, for irradiating a wafer W with UV light, by way of example,instead of the electron gun 151, lenses 152, 155, and apertures 153,154. In this way, the UV light is incident on the surface of the wafer Was a primary beam, and optical electrons emitted from the wafer W areenlarged by a lens, an aperture or the like of an illustratedelectro-optical system, and directed into a detection unit DU whichdetects an image of patterns on the wafer W.

The UV light from the UV light source 171 is actually transmitted to thewafer W through a hollow fiber, and is irradiated to a viewing fieldregion near the center of the wafer W, for example, in a region of 300μm diameter. In this regard, the X-ray or UV laser light may be used asa primary beam in a similar manner, where optical electrons emitted froma wafer W irradiated therewith can be utilized to capture an electronimage of patterns on the wafer W.

FIG. 22 in turn shows an example which employs in combination a primaryelectron beam from an electron gun 151, and UV laser light from a UVlaser source 181 for irradiating the surface of a wafer W with the twotypes of beams. In this example, as will be understood from thedescriptions made in connection with FIGS. 20 and 21, the primaryelectron beam emitted from the electron gun 151 is deflected by an ExBfilter 156 to travel along the optical axis of an electro-opticalsystem, and is irradiated to the wafer W. Electron beams emitted fromthe wafer W travels straight through the electro-optical system. The UVlaser used in combination with the primary electron beam is alsoincident on the surface of the wafer W as a primary beam, and opticalelectrons emitted therefrom are enlarged by a lens, an aperture and thelike of the illustrated electro-optical system, and are directed into adetection unit DU which detects an image of patterns on the wafer W. TheUV laser light used herein may be a four-time wave of YAG or exima laserlight which is introduced to the surface of the wafer W through a hollowfiber.

In the inspecting apparatus so far described in connection with FIGS. 20to 22, the lens 160 operates as a control electrode. When the wafer Wincludes a number of oxide films and/or nitride films, the wafer Wirradiated with an electron beam readily results in charge-up on theoxide film or the like on the surface. This will cause the trajectory ofelectron beams emitted from the surface of the wafer W to curve, or adischarge to occur between the wafer W and an electrode, for example,the lens 159 or the like. This influence is particularly grave in theprojection optical system shown in FIGS. 20 to 22. This is becauseelectron beam impinges on a wider region at one time, as compared with aSEM scheme, due to a rectangular or oval shape of the irradiatedelectron beam. In the SEM scheme, since converged electron beams arescanned, the charge-up is mitigated, resulting in a relatively smallamount of charge-up. However, for the reason set forth above, theprojection optical system is more susceptible to charge-up and largelyaffected thereby.

A discharge occurs between the wafer W and the lens 159 because apotential on the lens 160 is relatively low and can be freely changed,whereas the lens 159 is applied with a high voltage in the range of 15to 30 kV which cannot be varied. In this event, a lens electric fielddistribution on the surface of the wafer W is determined by the voltageapplied to the lens 159, and a voltage applied to the wafer W (forexample, −3 kV), for example, 1-3 kV/mm. Therefore, the lens 160 is usedto adjust the electric field distribution on the surface of the wafer Wby adjusting the voltage applied to the lens. By adjusting the voltageof the lens 160, the electric field distribution on the surface of thewafer W can be adjusted in the range of 0.1 to 1 kV/mm, thus restrainingthe discharge. This is because, by debilitating the positive electricfield distribution, an initial acceleration of electrons emitted fromthe surface of the wafer W can be reduced, i.e., an emitted electricfield strength can be debilitated, to reduce the emission of electronswhich contribute to the discharge.

Actually, it is thought that electrons are more likely to be emitted atcorners and in regions with high electric field strength. For example,assuming that an insulating film is positively charged up, and aminiature plug structure electrically conducted to a lower layer existsbelow the insulating film, the plug is at a substrate potential (forexample, −3 kV), with the surrounding insulator positively charged up.When the surface of the plug has a diameter of 100 nm, and the charge-upis +10 V, the average electric field strength of the plug is calculatedto be 100 kV/mm. Further, if the electric field strength increases infine gaps and asperities in a boundary region between the plug and theinsulator beyond 10⁸-10⁹ V/mm, by way of example, electrons will beemitted, causing a discharge to readily occur.

Next, FIG. 23 shows an example off a transmission-type inspectingapparatus. While the inspecting apparatus shown in FIGS. 20 to 22irradiates a wafer with an electron beam, UV light, or UV laser light touse electrons emitted from the wafer, the inspecting apparatus shown inFIG. 23 inspects a sample utilizing electrons which are generated by anelectron beam that has transmitted a sample. Specifically, an electronbeam emitted from an electron gun 151 passes through a lens 191 and anaperture 192 to control the angle of electrons and the amount ofelectrons incident on zoom lenses 193, 194. An incident angle to theaperture 195 is controlled by these lenses. The electron beam, which hasbeen adjusted for the amount of electrons by the aperture 195, is madeparallel with the optical axis by a lens 196, and irradiated to a sampleSL. By adjusting voltages applied to the zoom lenses 193, 194, thezooming magnification is change, for example, from one to 200 times, andthe size of the electron beam irradiated to the sample SL is controlledto have the diameter, for example, in the range of 5 to 1000 μm.

The electron beam which has passed through or transmitted the sample SLis enlarged by a secondary optical system which comprises lenses 197,198, 200, 201, 203, and apertures 199, 202, and is introduced into adetection unit DU. The lens 197 comprises an electrode for adjusting theelectric field strength with the sample SL. The lenses 198, 200 aredoublet lenses and satisfy dual centric conditions, and thereforeprovide electron images with low aberration. The lenses 201, 203 arelenses for enlarging an electron image. The lens 203 is adjusted suchthat the electron beam is focused on the sensor of the detection unitDU, the fluorescent plate, or the surface of the MCP. The apertures 199,202 control aberration and the amount of electrons introduced into thedetection unit DU.

The sample SL can be any arbitrary item such as an exposure mask, astencil mask, a micro-machine having a miniature structure, MEMS partsand the like, in addition to a semiconductor wafer and a semiconductordevice. It is necessary to adjust the energy of the electron beamirradiated to the sample in accordance with the characteristics of eachsample, such as the material, pattern shape, and the like of the sampleSL. For permitting the electron beam to transmit the sample SL, highenergy is required, and can be 50-100 keV in some cases. With a sampleSL having openings such as holes, slits and the like, and/orinterstices, for capturing electron beams which have passed through suchopenings and interstices, the electron gun 151 is required to generateelectrons of 10-10000 eV. For example, assume that a sample SL isirradiated with an electron beam having energy of 5 keV, generated fromthe electron gun 151. In this event, assuming that the potential of thesample is −4 kV, the electron beam is incident on the sample SL at 1kev. The electron beam which has passed through the sample SL reflectspatterns on the sample SL, and is introduced into the detection unit DU.

In the inspecting apparatus which has been described above withreference to a variety of embodiments, the CCD sensor or EB-CCD sensoris used to capture a still image, and adjustment of beam axis,observation of sample, inspection for defects, capturing of reviewimage, review observation, measurement, and evaluation can be performedutilizing a step-and-repeat function. In the following, thestep-and-repeat function will be described with reference to FIG. 24.FIG. 24(A) schematically shows the positional relationship between awafer W and a plurality of dies 211. As shown, a notch 212 is formed ina right-hand region. The dies 211 include a plurality of patterns,classified into a cell pattern area and a random pattern area, andtherefore, a plurality of types of cells and random pattern areas exist.The size of the dies is generally on the order of 1×1 mm to 30×30 mm,though it depends on a wafer of a process.

As shown in FIGS. 23(B) and 23(C), a care pattern 213 refers to apattern portion for which an inspection, a measurement, or an evaluationis desired, within such a pattern, and a particular site 214 refers to aportion which should be particularly noted. The particular sitesinclude, for example, a site which is highly likely to become defectiveduring a process period due to difficulties in processing because of asmall pattern size, a defective site after an inspection for defects, asite which is evaluated for a shift in position with an underlying lagerin a lamination process, a turn site for evaluating distortion andaberration of the electro-optical system, and the like. For theparticular sites as listed above, the step-and-repeat is performed usinga CCD sensor or an EB-CCD sensor to compare required images, evaluateshifts, to observe details, and so on.

For inspecting a care area in a cell portion for defects, patterns arecompared with one other in repeated pattern areas in the cell portion.For example, a viewing field of 5×5 to 500×500 μm on a sample surfacecan be observed in a capturing time of 10 to 100 minutes with amagnification of approximately 50 to 1000. As one still image (CCD imageor EB-CCD image) has been captured, the observation area is moved by apredefined distance to capture the same pattern in a similar manner.With repeated patterns, the next one of successive patterns is captured.In this way, a plurality, generally, three or more, of the same patternsare captured, and the captured images are compared with one another. Asthe result of the comparison, if there is only one different pattern orcontrast, or the like, this part is regarded as defective. Such aninspection is made simultaneously with the image capturing (on-line), orafter capturing inspected images (off-line), to classify the coordinatesand types of defective sites.

For inspecting random patterns for defects, random patterns in careareas of each die are compared with one another. In this event, a carearea of a random pattern is captured on one die. This may be performedusing any of an approach for capturing a plurality of still images atone time and an approach for capturing one by one. Next, the inspectingapparatus is moved to a random pattern in a care area of another die forcapturing. By thus capturing three or more still images, comparingcorresponding patterns with one another, and finding an failure whichexists only on one image, defective patterns, debris, defectivecontrast, and the like are sensed. With this inspection, the coordinatesof defects and the type of defects can be classified on-line oroff-line. This is referred to as a die-to-die inspection based onstep-and-repeat.

Otherwise, the inspecting apparatus may be used to evaluate a positionalshift with an underlying layer in a process. In this event, alignmentmarks are placed on an underlying layer and an overlying layer laminatedthereon. A positional shift is evaluated by measuring a degree to whichthese alignment marks overlap, for example, a shift of the position ofcenter of gravity, a shift of the centers of representative lengths fromone another, and the like. This evaluation is made after CMP in a wiringstructure for the underlying layer, and after the formation of resist,or after resist covering and exposure for the overlying layer.

Examples of alignment marks are shown in FIG. 25. (A) shows across-shaped alignment mark, arranged on an overlying layer and anunderlying layer, which comprises two rectangle of 15 μm long placed oneon the other to appear as a cross shape. Based on how these alignmentmarks overlap, the amount of shift is found for a representativeposition such as a pattern center position or the like, calculated fromthe positions of the centers of gravity of the underlying layer andoverlying layer, and the vertical and horizontal lengths to compare theoverlying and underlying layers. (B) shows a square alignment mark 222having a side of 20 μm attached to an underlying layer, and a squarealignment mark 223 having a side of 7 μm attached to an overlying layer,which overlap one on the other. Likewise, in this event, a positionalshift is evaluated by calculating the center position of the mark from asift of the positions of the centers of gravity, and a die row length.In this regard, the size of the alignment marks is not limited to thevalues shown in FIG. 25, but an alignment mark of a smaller size may beused, for example, a total size of 1×1 μm.

10-50 of such alignment marks are attached to one wafer. A shift amountis calculated for each alignment mark, and if there is a relativedirectivity in the shift amount (for example, when a larger shift isfound generally in the left-hand direction), the exposure position isadjusted to make a correction therefor. In this way, with the use of thestep-and-repeat function, the CCD sensor or EB-CCD sensor provides ahigher resolution and MTF, as compared with the TDI detector. Whenimages can be captured in a situation in which a large number ofelectrons can be captured per pixel, inspection for defects, reviewinspection, position shift inspection can be performed with highaccuracy, taking advantage of the characteristics of the CCD sensor andEB-CCD sensor.

As described above, the inspecting apparatus according to the presentinvention can use the CCD detector 11 and TDI detector 12 by switchingone to the other, and therefore provides advantages as described below.

First, the CCD detector 11 using the CCD sensor or EB-CCD sensor can beused to capture a still image, while the TDI detector 12 using the TDIsensor or EB-TDI sensor can be used to capture sequential images bycapturing images while moving the stage device. For switching thesedetectors to selectively capturing a still image and sequential images,the axes of the sensors used in the respective detectors must be inalignment. It is also necessary that the lens conditions (intensities ofthe lenses, beam deflection conditions, and the like) are the same whenthe CCD detector 11 is used and when the TDI detector 12 is used.Further, the primary optical system and secondary optical system mustoperate under the same conditions. In this regard, the sensors of therespective detectors can be corrected for a relative positional shift oftheir axes by comparing images captured by the sensor of the CCDdetector 11 and the sensor of the TDI detector 12.

Describing the operation in the inspecting apparatus according to thepresent invention in a specific manner, first at step S1, the CCDdetector 11 is placed in front of the TDI detector 12 to capture a stillimage to align the primary optical system to the secondary opticalsystem. Next, after the secondary optical system is adjusted (forexample, the size, magnification, and contrast of secondary beams,centering of lenses), the size and current density distribution of theprimary beam are adjusted. Subsequently, at step S2, the CCD detector 11is moved to direct secondary electron beams into the TDI detector 12,thereby capturing sequential images to ensure sample inspection images.Further subsequently, at step S3, the CCD detector 11 is removed andplaced in front of the TDI detector 12 to capture a review image whichis then compared with the inspection images captured by the TDI detector12 to determine whether a defective site confirmed in an inspectionimage captured by the TDI detector 12 is a false defect or a truedefect.

It should be noted that in general, the aforementioned step S1 isperformed only for the first one of a plurality of wafers accommodatedin a cassette, while steps S2 and S3 are performed for the second waferonward. However, for confirming the stability of the inspection, step S1may be performed on a periodic basis.

As described above, since still images can be captured by the CCDdetector 11, the optical system can be adjusted by attaching a standardchip at an arbitrary end of the stage device, without the need fortransferring a wafer. In other words, a still image of the standard chipcan be captured while a wafer is being loaded, to confirm thereproductivity of the primary beam, secondary beam, and electron beam(free of variations). When a difference is found by confirming adifference between the image of the standard chip and the image of thewafer, no inspection is performed on the assumption that chuckingconditions of the electrostatic chuck have varied. It is also possibleto check variations in the current density of the primary beam and thebeam size.

The size, position, and profile of the primary beam are adjusted withreference to the image captured by the CCD detector 11 at theaforementioned step S1. Also, when variations in these parameters exceeda certain basis, the electron gun or FA (aperture plate) is replaced. Ina process of aligning the primary beam to the secondary beam, an imageof low magnification, for example, 30 times, 80 times or the like isused. However, since the secondary beam locally impinges on MCP when alow-magnification image is captured, the MCP is locally damaged,resulting in a failure in detecting defects. Accordingly, the MCP mustbe replaced when an observation time at low magnifications has exceededa certain time (for example, 1000 hours). On the other hand, the EB-CCDsensor can be used for a long term because it is not particularlydamaged by the irradiation of the electron beam.

Also, the secondary beam is aligned with reference to the image capturedby the CCD detector 11. For example, the centering of the lenses,optimization for operating conditions of the beam deflector (forexample, the ExB separator 3 in FIG. 2) (for example, adjustments toconditions for projecting an image onto the center of the sensor) can beperformed. In this way, highly accurate adjustments can be accomplished.For example, the MTF can be adjusted in the range of 30 to 50%. Also, byusing the image captured by the CCD detector 11, it is possible to checkfluctuations in the secondary beam, changes in stig condition, a shiftof the center of lens, fluctuations in beam deflection conditions, andthe like.

In regard to the image processing system (for example, the imageprocessing unit 9 in FIG. 2), a step-and-repeat based inspection can beperformed because a still image can be captured by the CCD detector 11.Also, since the detectors can be rapidly switched, an inspection can beperformed after switching from the TDI detector 12 to the CCD detector11 when the inspection involves a small number of points underinspection, such as an overlay inspection. Preferably, the TDI detector12 is used for an inspection when the inspection speed is 10 MPPS(mega-pixel/sec) or higher, and the CCD detector 11 is used for aninspection when the inspection speed is 10 MPPS or lower. Also, sincethe sensor of the CCD detector 11 has been brought into alignment to thesensor of the TDI detector 12, the sensor of the CCD detector 11 neednot be again aligned when a review image is captured at theaforementioned step S3.

By incorporating the inspecting apparatus according to the presentinvention into a factory network, operation situations such as axisadjustment, inspection, review and the like can be communicated to amanager through the factory network, thus permitting the manager toimmediately know failures in apparatuses and defective adjustments andtake appropriate actions therefor.

Now, an example of a semiconductor manufacturing method performed usingthe inspecting apparatus described above will be described withreference to flow diagrams of FIGS. 26 and 27. As shown in FIG. 26, thesemiconductor device manufacturing method includes, as main processes, awafer manufacturing process 231 for manufacturing wafers or a waferpreparing process for preparing wafers, a mask manufacturing processf236 or manufacturing masks and reticles for use in exposure or a maskpreparing process for preparing masks, a wafer processing process 232for performing processing required to the wafer, a chip assemblingprocess 233 for cutting, one by one, chips formed on the wafer andmaking them operable, a chip inspecting process for inspecting chipsmanufactured in the chip assembling process, and a process for producingproducts (semiconductor devices) from chips which have passed theinspection. In this regard, since the wafer manufacturing process 231,wafer processing process 232, and lithography process 2323 are known, adescription thereon is omitted here. These main processes are furthercomprised of several sub-processes, respectively.

A main process which exerts critical affections to the performance ofresulting semiconductor devices is the wafer processing process. Thisprocess involves sequentially laminating designed circuit patterns onthe wafer to form a large number of chips which operate as memories orMPUs. The wafer fabricating process includes sub-processes as shown inan area surrounded by dotted lines in the figure. Specifically, thewafer processing process 232 includes a thin film forming sub-process2321 for forming dielectric thin films serving as insulating layers,metal thin films for forming wires or electrodes, and so on using CVD,sputtering and so on; an oxidation sub-process 2322 for oxidizing metalthin film layers and wafer substrate; a lithography sub-process 2323 forforming a resist pattern using masks or reticles for selectivelyfabricating the thin film layers and the wafer substrate; an etchingsub-process 2324 for fabricating the thin film layers and the substratein conformity to the resist pattern using, for example, dry etchingtechniques; an ion/impurity implantation/diffusion sub-process 2325; aresist striping sub-process; and an inspection sub-process 2326 forinspecting the fabricated wafer. As appreciated, the wafer processingprocess 232 is repeated a number of times equal to the number ofrequired layers to manufacture semiconductor devices which operate asdesigned. By applying the inspecting apparatus according to the presentinvention to the inspection sub-process 2326, it is possible to inspecteven a semiconductor device which has miniature patterns. Since a totalinspection can be accomplished, it is possible to manufacturesemiconductor devices which operate as designed to improve the yieldrate of products and prevent defective products from being shipped.

FIG. 27 shows steps performed in the lithography sub-process 2323 inFIG. 26. The lithography sub-process 2323 includes a resist coating step241 for coating a resist on the wafer on which circuit patterns havebeen formed in the previous process; a resist exposing step 242 forexposing the resist; a developing step 243 for developing the exposedresist to produce a resist pattern; and an annealing step 244 forstabilizing the developed resist pattern.

While the inspecting apparatuses according to the present invention havebeen described in connection with a variety of embodiments thereof withreference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to suchembodiments. For example, in the embodiments so far described, thesensors and electro-optical systems are disposed within the vacuumchamber, but the vacuum chamber is not necessarily used in anenvironment in which sensors such as the CCD sensor, TDI sensor and thelike can operate.

Also, while the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, FIG. 12, FIG. 14,FIG. 15, and FIGS. 17 to 19 uses the FOP at one stage, the FOP is notlimited to one stage, but the FOPs can also be used at a plurality ofstages. For example, it is possible to use two FOPs which comprise anFOP coated with a fluorescent agent for use in combination with MCP, andan FOP adhered to a TDI sensor and in close contact with the former FOP.In doing so, the assembly is improved in accuracy and efficiency.Specifically, if a FOP coated with a fluorescent agent is adhered to aTDI sensor, contamination and adhesive, if sticking to the fluorescentagent of the FOP, would be difficult to wash away. Also, when afluorescent agent is coated after adhesion, a special process andtechnique will be required such that the fluorescent agent is not coatedon the TDI sensor itself. Further, a high level of stringency isrequired for an assembling accuracy for the parallelism of the FOPcoated with the fluorescent agent with an MCP and the like, so as not toaffect the resolution and anti-discharge performance. Such intricacy iseliminated by the use of the aforementioned FOPs at two stages. This istrue when a plurality of FOPs are used.

INDUSTRIAL AVAILABILITY

As will be understood from the foregoing description, the presentinvention relies on a moving mechanism or a deflecting means to select adetector which provides appropriate performance without requiring a workfor changing one detector to another as before, thus making it possibleto reduce a long time taken for the restoration of a vacuum state afterthe exposure to the atmosphere due to the change of the detector, and toefficiently perform works such as adjustments to certain electro-opticalsystems, sequential inspections, defect evaluation, and the like. Also,the present invention has a great significance in a technological andindustrial sense such as the accomplishment of remarkable improvementson work efficiency, reduction in cost, higher performance of surfaceinspection, higher throughput, and the like.

1. An inspecting apparatus characterized by comprising: a plurality ofdetectors each for receiving an electron beam emitted from a sample toacquire image data representative of the sample; and a switchingmechanism for causing the electron beam to be incident on one of saidplurality of detectors, wherein said plurality of detectors are disposedwithin the same vacuum chamber.
 2. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 1, characterized in that: said plurality of detectors comprise: afirst detector comprising an electron sensor for converting an electronbeam into an electric signal; and a second detector comprising anoptical sensor for converting an electron beam into light and convertingthe light into an electric signal, wherein said electron sensor and saidoptical sensor are disposed within said vacuum chamber.
 3. An inspectingapparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said electronsensor of said first detector is an EB-CCD sensor having a plurality ofpixels, and said optical sensor of said second detector is a TDI sensorhaving a plurality of pixels.
 4. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 1, characterized in that: said plurality of detectors comprise: athird detector comprising an electron sensor for converting an electronbeam into an electric signal; and a fourth detector comprising aelectron sensor for converting an electron beam into an electric signal,wherein said electron sensors in said third detector and said fourthdetector are disposed within said vacuum chamber.
 5. An inspectingapparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said electronsensor of said third detector is an EB-CCD sensor having a plurality ofpixels, and said electron sensor of said fourth detector is an EB-TDIsensor having a plurality of pixels.
 6. An inspecting apparatusaccording to claim 1, characterized in that said plurality of detectorscomprise: a fifth detector comprising an optical sensor for convertingan electron beam into light and converting the light into an electricsignal; and a sixth detector comprising an optical sensor for convertingan electron beam into light and converting the light into an electricsignal, wherein said optical sensors in said fifth detector and saidsixth detector are disposed within said vacuum chamber.
 7. An inspectingapparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: a fifth detectorcomprising an optical sensor for converting an electron beam into lightand converting the light into an electric signal; and a sixth detectorcomprising an optical sensor for converting an electron beam into lightand converting the light into an electric signal, wherein at least oneof said optical sensors in said fifth detector and said sixth detectoris disposed in the atmosphere.
 8. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 6, characterized in that said optical sensor of said fifthdetector is a CCD sensor having a plurality of pixels, and said opticalsensor of said sixth detector is a TDI sensor having a plurality ofpixels.
 9. An inspecting apparatus according to claim 1, characterizedin that said switching mechanism comprises at least one of: a movingmechanism for mechanically moving one of said plurality of detectors toa position at which said one detector does not prevent another one ofsaid plurality of detectors from receiving an electron beam; and adeflector for switching a traveling direction of the electron beam toone of said plurality of detectors and to another of said plurality ofdetectors.
 10. An inspecting apparatus according to claim 1,characterized by capturing a two-dimensional image.
 11. An inspectingapparatus according to claim 1, characterized by comprising an electronamplifier for amplifying the electron beam.
 12. An inspecting apparatusaccording to claim 1, characterized by comprising an electro-opticalsystem such as a lens, wherein the trajectory of the electron beam iscontrolled by said electro-optical system.
 13. An inspecting apparatusaccording to claim 12, characterized in that said electro-optical systemcomprises a noise cut aperture.
 14. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 12, characterized in that said electro-optical system comprises aprojection optical system.
 15. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 1, characterized by comprising an electron source for irradiatingthe sample with electrons.
 16. An inspecting apparatus according toclaim 1, characterized by comprising an electromagnetic wave source forirradiating the sample with an electromagnetic wave.
 17. An inspectingapparatus according to claim 1, characterized by comprising an electronsource for irradiating the sample with electrons, and an electromagneticwave source for irradiating the sample with an electromagnetic wave. 18.An inspecting apparatus according to claim 16, wherein saidelectromagnetic wave source is capable of generating one of UV light,DUV light, laser light, and X-ray.
 19. A defect inspecting apparatuscharacterized by comprising the inspecting apparatus according toclaim
 1. 20. A device manufacturing method characterized by inspecting awafer for defects halfway in a process by the defect inspectingapparatus according to claim
 19. 21. A defect inspecting apparatuscomprising: a primary optical system having an electron gun for emittinga primary electron beam for guiding the primary electron beam to asample; and a secondary optical system for guiding a secondary electronbeam emitted from the sample to a detection system, characterized inthat said detection system comprises: a first EB-CCD sensor foradjusting the optical axis of an electron beam; an EB-TDI sensor forcapturing an image of the sample; and a second EB-CCD sensor forevaluating a defective site based on the image captured by said EB-TDIsensor.
 22. A defect inspecting apparatus according to claim 20,characterized in that said second EB-CCD sensor has a pixel size smallerthan a pixel size of said first EB-CCD sensor.
 23. A defect inspectingmethod for inspecting a sample for defects in a defect inspectingapparatus having a primary optical system for guiding the primaryelectron beam to a sample, and a secondary optical system for guiding asecondary electron beam emitted from the sample to a detection system,characterized by: adjusting an optical axis using said EB-CCD sensor;capturing an image of a sample using said EB-TDI sensor; specifying adefective site on the sample from the image captured by said EB-TDIsensor; capturing an image of the defective site on the sample usingsaid EB-CCD sensor; and comparing the image of the defective sitecaptured by said EB-TDI sensor with the image of the defective sitecaptured by said EB-CCD sensor to determine a false defect or a truedefect.